December 26, 2014

[SSJ: 8802] Open--Digital Video Archive on 3.11 Disasters

From: David H. Slater
Date: 2014/12/26

http://tohokukaranokoe.org/
Voices from Tohoku

Over the past 3+ years, we have collected video oral narratives from more than 10 communities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. We have more than 500 hours in total, making it one of the largest such archives we know of. Most of the interviewing has been done by undergraduates at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo.

"Voices of Tohoku" is a Japanese website that features a collection of clips taken from our full archive, each with Japanese transcriptions and thematic tags. These clips were first provided to our primary audience--the Tohoku informants themselves--as some record of how people felt during the unfolding of events within community life in post 3.11 Tohoku. The stories are not always happy but one informant suggested that we make them available to the public. "After all," she said, "we only told you these stories so you would tell the world what really happened." The website is not fancy but it is functional, a work in progress. (Of course, we have full release forms for all material.)

During the data collection, we returned to each site for repeated visits for at least a year, always doing volunteer work to better understand the specifics of the community. Rather than focusing on the often horrific tales of destruction on "the day of," we tried to give our informants a more expansive chance to talk about their lives in more detail. Wanting minimal interruption, we often asked only three questions during our interviews: what was your community like before 3.11; how has it been from the disaster until today; what is your vision of the future?

We are not collecting any more Tohoku narratives, not because the situation is in any sense "over"--it is not--but because we do not have any more money to send people into Tohoku. We are currently translating the interviews into English and looking for a way to make the full archive open to other scholars in a responsible and effective way.

We gratefully acknowledge support from Sophia University, the Toyota Foundation and a JSPS grant from the Japanese government. Also, we thank the many graduate students, post-grad scholars, colleagues, NPO leaders and of course, our many interviewees and collaborators in Tohoku, who have helped us make the archive what it is so far.

We are always open to working with other scholars to improve access--please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Happy New Year,
David Slater
Sophia University, Tokyo

--

David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture
Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese
Studies
Sophia University, Tokyo

[SSJ: 8802] Open--Digital Video Archive on 3.11 Disasters

From: David H. Slater
Date: 2014/12/26

http://tohokukaranokoe.org/
Voices from Tohoku

Over the past 3+ years, we have collected video oral narratives from more than 10 communities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. We have more than 500 hours in total, making it one of the largest such archives we know of. Most of the interviewing has been done by undergraduates at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo.

"Voices of Tohoku" is a Japanese website that features a collection of clips taken from our full archive, each with Japanese transcriptions and thematic tags. These clips were first provided to our primary audience--the Tohoku informants themselves--as some record of how people felt during the unfolding of events within community life in post 3.11 Tohoku. The stories are not always happy but one informant suggested that we make them available to the public. "After all," she said, "we only told you these stories so you would tell the world what really happened." The website is not fancy but it is functional, a work in progress. (Of course, we have full release forms for all material.)

During the data collection, we returned to each site for repeated visits for at least a year, always doing volunteer work to better understand the specifics of the community. Rather than focusing on the often horrific tales of destruction on "the day of," we tried to give our informants a more expansive chance to talk about their lives in more detail. Wanting minimal interruption, we often asked only three questions during our interviews: what was your community like before 3.11; how has it been from the disaster until today; what is your vision of the future?

We are not collecting any more Tohoku narratives, not because the situation is in any sense "over"--it is not--but because we do not have any more money to send people into Tohoku. We are currently translating the interviews into English and looking for a way to make the full archive open to other scholars in a responsible and effective way.

We gratefully acknowledge support from Sophia University, the Toyota Foundation and a JSPS grant from the Japanese government. Also, we thank the many graduate students, post-grad scholars, colleagues, NPO leaders and of course, our many interviewees and collaborators in Tohoku, who have helped us make the archive what it is so far.

We are always open to working with other scholars to improve access--please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.

Happy New Year,
David Slater
Sophia University, Tokyo

--

David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture
Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese
Studies
Sophia University, Tokyo

[SSJ: 8801] Call for Papers: Political Institutions Workshop with John Carey

From: Yuko Kasuya
Date: 2014/12/26

Call for Papers
Political Institutions Workshop with John Carey

Under the auspices of the Top Global University Project of Ministry of Education, Political Institutions Workshop will be held inviting Professor John Carey of Dartmouth University as the keynote speaker. In addition to Professor Carey's presentation, we invite 3 to 4 paper givers. Possible topics include elections, legislature, and executive- legislative relations, among others. The aim of this workshop is to provide Japan-based scholars with an opportunity to present their research and get feedback from the audience, including Professor Carey. The workshop is also intended to serve as a venue for networking among scholars and students doing research on political institutions.

How to Apply:
Submit your abstract (150-400 words) to Yuko Kasuya
(ykasuya@a7.keio.jp) by January 31, 2015. If you already have a paper, please submit it together with your abstract. Decisions will be announced by February 15, 2015. If accepted, full paper should be submitted by March 14, 2015.

* Information about workshop participation will be announced in mid-February.

December 25, 2014

Under the auspices of the Top Global University Project of Ministry of Education, Gender and Politics Workshop will be held inviting Professor Lisa Baldez of Dartmouth University as the keynote speaker.
In addition to Professor Baldez’s presentation, we invite 3 to 4 paper givers on the theme of gender and politics. The aim of this workshop is to provide Japan-based scholars with an opportunity to present their research and get feedbacks from the audience, including Professor Baldez. The workshop is also intended to serve as a venue for networking among scholars and students doing research on gender and politics.

How to Apply:
Submit your abstract (150-400 words) to Mikiko Eto
(eto@hosei.ac.jp) by January 31, 2015. If you already have a paper, please submit it together with your abstract. Decisions will be announced by February 15, 2015. If accepted, full paper should be submitted by March 14, 2015.

* Information about workshop participation will be announced in mid-February.

[SSJ: 8799] Louis Frieberg Post-doctoral Fellowships in East Asian Studies. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From: Nissim Otmazgin
Date: 2014/12/25

Louis Frieberg Post-doctoral Fellowships

The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies offers post-doctoral fellowships for the year 2015-2016. The post-docs are open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences specializing in East Asia, especially Japan, China, Korea and Mongolia.

Fellowships are granted for one academic year or one term with the possibility of extension for an additional year. The starting date of the visit should not be later than four years after receipt of the Doctoral Degree; the fellow must hold a valid Doctoral Degree no later than September 2015.

The fellowship consists of a monthly stipend (tax free) of $1,500, paid in Israeli NIS and linked to the "representative rate of exchange." Fellows are entitled to one airline ticket (economy class, up to 1500$) for a direct flight from their home town to Israel and back.

The fellows are expected to teach one semesterial course at the Hebrew University (for additional payment, according to the Hebrew University regulations). The ability to teach a course in Hebrew is welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attaining the fellowship. The fellows are also expected to actively participate in the life and activities of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies. The fellows will present their research at the department seminar of the Asian Studies Department, and possibly at other relevant forums. Any work outside the Hebrew University would be allowed only after specific approval by the Frieberg Center.

Applicants should submit one hard copy and an electronic copy- in one file- of their application to the address below, no later than March 31, 2015. The application must include:

New book by Nissim Otmazgin, Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia, now out by University of Hawai'i Press!
See the book here:
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9036-9780824836948.aspx

[SSJ: 8798] Winter Holiday Break

From: SSJ Forum Moderator
Date: 2014/12/25

Dear SSJ-Forum subscribers,

Greetings from Hongo. On behalf of Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, we would like to thank you for participating in SSJ-Forum this year. We trust that you have found enough of the messages interesting to make subscribing worthwhile, and hope that you will continue to read and respond to SSJ-Forum posts in 2015.

As the winter solstice has passed, we are soon having a holiday break from December 27th to January 4th, so the SSJ-Forum will shut down during the period. Postings that are sent to the forum during the break will be sent out on January 5th.

Please note that there is an on-line archive of all SSJ-Forum posts at the SSJ-Forum website ( http://ssj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp ). As well as quick links to the most recent posts sent to the Forum, there are three ways to search the archives: by message author, by date, and by keyword.

We hope all of you will have a wonderful holiday season and a very happy and healthy new year.

December 20, 2014

I am pleased to inform you that Thomas Piketty (EHESS) will give a talk at the Maison Franco Japonaise (Tokyo) on 30 January 2015 (5-7 pm) at the occasion of the publication of the Japanese version of his book "Le capital au 21e siecle"
The Fondation France Japon de l'EHESS, whose purpose is to connect Japanese and European academic communauties, is proud to participate to the organization of this event.
Toshiaki Tachibanaki (Kyoto University) will be the discussant and Sebastien Lechevalier (EHESS) will be the moderator

More information on this event - which will be in French and Japanese with simultaneous translation - can be found here:

December 19, 2014

[SSJ: 8796] Cornell Law School Clarke Program Fellow (Japan Focus)

From: Naruhito Cho
Date: 2014/12/19

Cornell Law School's Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture seeks to hire a new Japanese Fellow to join the Meridian 180 team in Ithaca. The position will begin between March 1 and June 1, 2015 although an earlier start date is preferred. The Fellow must have a JD, JSD, or PhD in the humanities or social sciences in hand by the start date. This will be a one year position.

Please circulate the job description below as widely as possible and forward it directly to potential candidates. Please contact us with any questions at nc388@cornell.edu.

Clarke Program Fellow (Japan Focus)
Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture, Law School Cornell University

Meridian 180, a community of prominent intellectuals and policy makers in Asia, the United States and around the world interested in new ways of thinking about law and markets broadly conceived, seeks to hire a full-time Fellow for a one year position at its center of operations at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. The Fellowship will begin between March 1 and June 1, 2015, although an earlier start date is preferred. The aim of Meridian 180 is to generate new paradigms and solutions for the next generation of transpacific relations. The Fellow will play an integral part in this mission through translation, research, and outreach to wider public and policy communities in the United States and Japan. For more information, please see meridian-180.org.

Meridian 180 is a project of the Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture at the Cornell Law School. It is a non-profit, non-partisan project funded through private donations and with support from Cornell Law School. It is comprised of members in law, the academy, private practice and policy circles who meet regularly via an on-line platform supporting multilingual conversations, as well as periodically in face to face conferences. Ideas that emerge from these conversations are then incubated and developed, with the help of the Fellow, into forms in which they can make a difference in each individual society-ranging from policy papers to academic books, blog entries, and individual conversations with policy makers.

The Fellow will be responsible for the day to day maintenance and translation of on-line dialogues. He or she will also (1) work with other Fellows to draft, create, and translate various materials for the Meridian 180 project, (2) help organize conferences and workshops in the US and the Asia Pacific Region, (3) administer various day-to-day aspects of the project, and (4) take initiative, in coordination with the Director and other members of the team, to develop new features and projects to further the goals of the Meridian 180 project.

Duties and responsibilities:

-- Day to day translation of on-line dialogues on
meridian-180.org: The Fellow will provide on-line translations from Japanese to English and from English to Japanese of participants' interventions on the website. This will be a daily task and translations typically must be completed within a 24 hour period.
Fellows also translate other contents, such as book reviews, interview articles, newsletters, and publicity materials.

-- Work with other Fellows and Meridian 180 members on publication of outcomes of Meridian 180 projects: The Fellow will work with other Fellows, Meridian 180 members, and other Meridian 180 staff to write/edit/research/produce publications that will be published either on meridian-180.org or as policy papers, books, op-eds, interview articles, etc.

-- Work with the Director on strategic planning and organizational development: The Fellow will help develop new research, organizational and outreach initiatives for both meridian-180.org and the Clarke Program. This will involve extensive dialogue with leading academics and policy-makers in Japan. Some travel to Japan will also be involved.

-- Conferences and Website Maintenance: The Fellow will help with the organization of conferences which, each year, will convene Meridian 180 members to further and promote the ideas developed in on-line conversations.
The Fellow will also take initiative in managing the various features on Meridian 180 website.

Qualifications and requirements

-- law degree (JD) or PhD in the humanities or social sciences in hand by June 1, 2015.

-- Oral and written fluency in English and Japanese.
Some level of familiarity with Chinese and/or Korean a plus, but not necessary.

-- Experience with translation.

-- Must be comfortable with basic computer and internet operations; familiarity with web administration and development (Drupal and commonspot) a plus, but not necessary

-- Entrepreneurial initiative; independence; ability to work in teams; writing skills; research/scholarly experience; organization; ability to multi-task; interest in the future of the East Asia-US relationship; familiarity with the Japanese academia, business etiquette, and cultural norms; willingness to work on administrative task such as updating databases, communicating with institutions within and outside of Cornell University, and other miscellaneous day-to-day tasks; and willingness to learn new skills, particularly in relation to computer and internet technology.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants should submit a resume, cover letter and writing sample by February 1, 2015 to Donna Hastings at dkh25@cornell.edu.

Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is an inclusive, dynamic, and innovative Ivy League university and New York's land-grant institution. Its staff, faculty, and students impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas and best practices to further the university's mission of teaching, research, and outreach.

Cornell University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer.

[SSJ: 8795] Election survey experiment: Abenomics took a backseat to other issues in voters' minds

From: Daniel Smith
Date: 2014/12/19

For those of you who might be interested, I would like to direct your attention to an article with Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth), Teppei Yamamoto (MIT), and Mayumi Fukushima (MIT) published today in Nikkei Business Online.
We conducted a new type of field survey experiment (adapted from the marketing world) during the campaign period of the recent election to examine which of the policies promoted in party manifestos were most attractive to voters.

Many touted the election as a public referendum on the set of Abe's economic policies known as Abenomics--including the much-heralded "three arrows"
of monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and structural reforms to Japan's regulatory system. But were these really the issues that voters cared about? Each of the main parties that contested the election took positions on Abe's economic policies, to be sure, but parties also presented voters with different positions on a range of other issues, including nuclear energy, TPP, collective self-defense, constitutional revision, and whether or not the number of Diet seats should be reduced.

The results of our survey experiment reveal that Abenomics actually took a backseat to some of these other issues in voters' minds. Full explanation and results are here (in Japanese):

http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/topics/20141218/
275309/

Daniel M. Smith
Assistant Professor
Department of Government
Harvard University

December 18, 2014

This is just a reminder that the 34th annual ICU-Sophia symposium co-organized by the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and the Institute for Global Concern
(IGC) will be held this Saturday, December 20.
Professors Sudipta Kaviraj (Columbia University), Shin Chiba (ICU) and Koichi Nakano (Sophia) are the keynote speakers. For more details, see below:

The centenary commemorations of the First World War serve as a stark reminder of the perils of nationalism which have as yet remained unheeded throughout Asia. In a lecture given in Japan as the war unfolded, the Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore criticized the nation-state and offered a vision of a society independent of it. The twentieth century, however, saw a proliferation of nationalist ideology throught the region and the establishment of an international society of nation-states. In recent years, the revival of nationalism, which had previously remained dormant since the Second World War, has threatened peace and stability in the region, most notably in the dispute over the Daiyou/Senkaku islands.
This symposium, the 34th joint symposium held by SSRI and the Institute for Global Concern (Sophia University), will seek to critically interrogate the prospects for peace in Asia by posing the following
question: What can be done to counter the rise of nationalism within Asia and what role, if any, can inter-faith dialogue play in peacebuilding in the region?

December 17, 2014

[SSJ: 8791] Asahi-comfort women-Hokusei University

From: Koichi Nakano
Date: 2014/12/17

I am writing to let the SSJ-Forum members know that, thanks to your strong interest and support, and to the hard work of many concerned in Sapporo, Hokusei Gakuen University has decided to renew the contract for Mr Uemura for the next academic year. The formal announcement shall be made at a press conference in the afternoon of December 17th.

It is no exaggeration to say that the reversal of the decision would not have happened without the active engagement of so many of you. Many people inside Hokusei who courageously voiced their support for Mr Uemura and the for academic freedom as well as press freedom were much encouraged by the fact that the wider scholarly community beyond the Japanese borders stood up in solidarity. The President, who initially expressed his intention to let Mr Uemura go at the end of this academic year for fear of further, continuous threats and negative publicity to the university, revisited his decision, and met and apologized to Mr Uemura in the past week.

While this is great news and a victory for basic civil liberties in Japan, it goes without saying that we need to continue to keep our eyes open and provide support for Hokusei and other institutions under threat.

The upcoming conference is part of the research project "Protecting the Weak. Entangled Processes of Framing, Mobilization and Institutionalization in East Asia"
funded by the Volkswagen Foundation within its initiative "Key issues for Academia and Society". The starting point is that we perceive a paradigmatic shift to be taking place in public debates about the "weak".
Both in Europe and East Asia, there seems to be a growing awareness of weak groups and interests in society which goes along with claims that these "weak"
be protected in the name of a common good which is reconceptualized in this process. New conceptualizations of the common good seem to be based on the assumption that the "weak" should be protected through collective strategies. Based on a selection of four pairs of comparative case studies - namely, calls to protect disaster victims, employee well-being, cultural heritage, and animal welfare in Japan and China - the issues of reconceptualization and protection of the weak will be discussed empirically.

If you wish to participate in the two-day conference, please contact Ms. Christiane Muenscher
(muenscher@soz.uni-frankfurt.de) at the conference office for registration.

Kind regards,
Cornelia Storz

-------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
Cornelia Storz
Professor, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Frankfurt www.wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de\storz

December 12, 2014

[SSJ: 8788] JOB: Two positions in "Non-Western International Theory"

From: Emilian Kavalski
Date: 2014/12/12

Dear Colleagues,

I would be very grateful if you could distribute the information about the following two job openings among your network.

The Institute for Social Justice (Sydney, Australia) has two openings:
1. Research Fellow in Non-Western International Theory
2 Senior Research Fellow in Non-Western Political Thought Below are the details for both positions.

1. Research Fellow in Non-Western International Theory
http://careers.acu.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=925658

The Institute for Social Justice offers a stimulating, demanding, and dynamic disciplinary and interdisciplinary research environment. The research of the current members of the Institute engages with social and political theory and practice from East Africa to East Asia.

As the Research Fellow in Non-Western International Theory, you will have an interest in re-thinking Western-oriented methods of inquiry and theories, which in turn allows us to rethink dominant conceptions of knowledge and normativity in international theory. In particular, you will be interested in non-Western conceptions of just, sustainable, and equitable global life and the governance practices that they inform, and in comparing the ways in which such normative understandings confront, complement, and transform established traditions and practices of inquiry.

You will be expected to contribute actively and collaboratively to the strategic direction of the Institute through the development of relevant and meaningful research programs and initiatives on the impact of non-Western approaches to the fragile and unpredictable conditions of global life. You will also need to show an interest in combining original normative reflection with diverse forms of action research and contribute to the Institute's Doctoral Program in Social and Political Thought through postgraduate teaching and the supervision of doctoral students.

Successful candidates will possess:

- Expertise in postcolonial, subaltern,
gender/feminist, queer, and other critical approaches to non-Western international theory;

- Demonstrated familiarity with the manner in which the 'international' is conceived in non-Western contexts;

- Experience of critical engagement with the linkages between global, regional, and local developments in the non-Western world;

- Sophisticated understanding of the political thinking and practices informing the agency of major non-Western actors.

A range of generous conditions of employment and entitlements are provided, these include: generous leave conditions; flexible working arrangements; salary packaging benefits and comprehensive staff development programs.

How to Apply:
Obtain the Position Description
Research_Fellow_ISJ_PD.pdf. Applicants are expected to submit a covering letter addressing your interest in the position, CV with three referees and a statement addressing all selection criteria listed in the position description. Specific enquiries may be directed either to Professor Nikolas Kompridis, Director, Institute for Social Justice on (02) 9739
2728 or to Associate Professor Emilian Kavalski, email; emilian.kavalski@acu.edu.au.
- See more at:
http://careers.acu.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=925658
#sthash.kikhlAen.dpuf

2. Senior Research Fellow in Non-Western Political Thought
http://careers.acu.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=925654
The Institute for Social Justice offers a stimulating, demanding, and dynamic disciplinary and interdisciplinary research environment. The research of the current members of the Institute engages with social and political theory and practice from East Africa to East Asia. As the Senior Research Fellow in Non-Western Political Thought, you will have an interest in re-thinking Western-oriented methods of inquiry and theories, which in turn allows us to rethink dominant conceptions of knowledge and normativity in political thought. In particular, you will be interested in non-Western conceptions of just, sustainable, and equitable global life and the governance practices that they inform, and in comparing the ways in which such normative understandings confront, complement, and transform established traditions and practices of inquiry. You will be expected to contribute actively and collaboratively to the strategic direction of the Institute through the development of relevant and meaningful research programs and initiatives drawing on non-Western approaches to the fragile and unpredictable conditions of global life. You will also show an interest in combining original normative reflection with diverse forms of action research and contribute to the Institute's Doctoral Program in Social and Political Thought through postgraduate teaching and the supervision of doctoral students. Successful candidates will possess: - Expertise in postcolonial, subaltern, gender/feminist, queer and other critical approaches to non-Western political thought; - Sophisticated knowledge of non-Western conceptions of justice and ethical life; - Demonstrated familiarity with the manner in which the 'political' is conceived in non-Western contexts, and critical engagement with non-Western modes of political action. Total remuneration valued to $130,787 - $141,989 pa, including salary component $110,624 - $120,198 pa (Academic Classification Level C), employer contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading. A range of generous conditions of employment and entitlements are provided, these include: generous leave conditions; flexible working arrangements; salary packaging benefits and comprehensive staff development programs. How to Apply: Obtain the Position Description Snr_Research_Fellow_ISJ_PD.pdf. Applicants are expected to submit a covering letter addressing your interest in the position, CV with three referees and a statement addressing all selection criteria listed in the position description. Specific enquiries may be directed either to Professor Nikolas Kompridis, Director, Institute for Social Justice on (02) 9739
2728 or to Associate Professor Emilian Kavalski, email; emilian.kavalski@acu.edu.au.

- See more at:
http://careers.acu.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=925654
#sthash.bHbS84OP.dpuf

December 11, 2014

[SSJ: 8787] Call for proposals for the AAS 2015 JPSG Business Meeting

From: Michael Strausz
Date: 2014/12/11

Dear SSJ-readers,

During the upcoming meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (March 26-30, 2015 in Chicago) the Japan Political Studies Group has a business meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 28 at 1:00pm (it does not overlap with research panels). We are looking for a few people to make short presentations (about 5-10 minute
each) for a roundtable discussion on the results of the upcoming Lower House election and related political developments.

These presentations will not appear on the AAS program, but this is a great chance to have a starring role in a discussion with many great scholars of Japan and politics and we can provide a letter to confirm participation, if this helps.

Interested parties are requested to email a very short paragraph (250 words or less) and CV to michael.strausz@tcu.edu by January 15, 2015.

December 10, 2014

Michael Cucek: Japanese politics and policy: The agenda for 2015
***********
Date: Friday, January 9, 2015
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access:
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker: Michael Cucek, Adjunct Fellow of ICAS and an Advisor to Langley Esquire K.K.
Moderator:Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
***********
Overview
Following a snap election, nuclear reactor restarts, a shrinking economy, rising prices, a sinking yen, the advent of the Special Secrets Act, the revision of the Defense Guidelines, China pressures, a prime minister in a hurry.a lot lies on the plate as Nagata-cho rings in the New Year. ICAS Adjunct Fellow Michael Cucek offers his take on the state of politics and government in advance of the 2015 Regular Session of the Diet, with his forecasts of possible turning points and issues salient in the near and intermediate futures.

Speaker

Michael Cucek is an analyst and author who has spent half a lifetime looking at Japan and the Japanese. A graduate of Stanford University with graduate studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Columbia University, he has lived in the Tokyo Metropolitan District since 1994. An employee of a boutique consultancy for 15 years, he now serves clients as an independent consultant on politics and government policy. He is the author of the blog
Shisaku: Marginalia on Japanese Politics and Society and has been a contributor to Foreign Policy, East Asia Forum, Al-Jazeera and The International Herald Tribune. He is an Adjunct Fellow with the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University Japan and an Advisor to Langley Esquire K.K.. His personal interests include the politics of personality and lineage, rural development, the preservation of local customs and the Japanese sense of humor (for more info please visit
http://shisaku.blogspot.jp/)

[SSJ: 8785] Documentary Screenings@Doshisha University, Kyoto

From: Greg Poole
Date: 2014/12/10

On Dec 17th, the Institute for the Liberal Arts will screen documentaries by young filmmakers from Southeast Asia. The region is a place of rich diversity and home to over 650 million people. This diversity, a product of centuries of social, cultural, political and religious development, is at the heart of Southeast Asian societies. These short documentaries introduce current issues affecting people in Southeast Asia. All are welcome to join the screening!

December 09, 2014

[SSJ: 8784] 【Notice】 Invitation to 104th GRIPS Forum on 22nd December

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2014/12/09

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on December 22.
*Please register at Registration Form by December 19
(Fri)17：00.
https://gremind.grips.ac.jp/form/0002/104th-grips-forum
-on-22nd-december/
＜We will close registration after the participation limit is reached. We will inform you if the limit is
reached.＞

*If you can’t open the registration form, please send an email to gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address without changing the title.

*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Abstract:
Gifted with Mount Fuji, a world treasure, Shizuoka Prefecture has adopted a vision to build a wealthy and virtuous nation of Mount Fuji. Against the backdrop of an era where there are vast movements of people, goods, and information on a global scale, Shizuoka is building relationships directly with other countries and regions based on the spirit of friendship and mutual benefit.
This lecture will discuss the value and importance of promoting regional diplomacy today despite Japan’s tense relations with other nation states.

Speakers’ Profile:
1972 B.A., Department of Economics,
School of Political Sciences and Economics I, Waseda University
1975 M.A., Graduate School of Economics,
Waseda University
1982 Authorized Studies & Conduct Doctor
Course, Graduate School of Economics, Waseda University
1985 Ph.D. Oxford University, U.K.
1990 Professor, School of Political
Sciences and Economics, Waseda University
1998- Professor, International Research
Center for Japanese Studies
2004- Director, National Institute for
Research Advancement (NIRA)
2007 President, Shizuoka University of
Art and Culture
2009- present Governor, Shizuoka Prefectural Government

Research Activity:
Comparative Socio-Economic History
Analysis of British Parliamentary Papers Possibility of Establishing Federation Throughout West Pacific Regions

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

The Graduate School of East Asian Studies at Freie Universitaet Berlin (Germany) is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral research fellowship limited to 2 years with a focus on Japan beginning on 1 September 2015 Salary terms of E 13 TV-L in the German public sector

Job description:
The Graduate School merges research in East Asian Studies (Japanese, Korean and Chinese Studies) with training in the social sciences (Political Science, Economics, Law, Social and Cultural Anthropology) as well as History and Cultural Studies. The training program is interdisciplinary with special emphasis on historically and culturally informed social science inquiry.

The post-doctoral position involves undertaking research in the context of the Graduate School's research focus on institutions in East Asia, coordinating teams of graduate student-researchers, and teaching a small semester-long seminar.

Minimum Requirements:
(1) Completed PhD or doctorate by the time of appointment.
(2) Field open to any social-science discipline, e.g.
anthropology, economics, history, political science, or sociology.
(3) Empirical research focus on Japan.
(4) Fluency in Japanese and English.

Applications quoting the reference code GEAS/PostDoc/J should include a brief letter summarizing the applicant’s qualifications for the position, a current CV, and names of three references. Applications will be considered beginning February 2015.

All materials, including a private postal and e-mail address (pdf preferred), must be received no later than February 16th, 2015 at

Bunkyo Gakuin University, a small close-knit private university in the center of Tokyo (zero-minute walk from Todai-Mae Station on the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line) is seeking a full-time professor, associate professor or lecturer for the Faculty of Foreign Studies, and of the Graduate School of Foreign Studies (Master's Program).

Responsibilities will include: (a) teaching classes on Intercultural Communication, Seminar on Intercultural Communication or Communication Studies and others, including English language skills courses in the Faculty of Foreign Studies, and teaching Intercultural Communication and thesis advising in the Graduate School of Foreign Studies (Master's Program), and (b) attendance, cooperation and support in administrative duties.

Term of Office: Five years. With possibility of promotion to a tenured position at the end of the five-year term with the approval of the Board of Directors. Retirement is at 68 years old.

Qualifications:
1. Native speaker of English with ability to understand Japanese.

2. (a) Doctor's degree in Communication Studies, or equal academic accomplishment, and ability to advise graduate students on thesis writing in this field, or
(b) Doctor's degree in Intercultural Communication or equal academic accomplishment, and ability to advise graduate students on thesis writing in this field.

3. Willingness to contribute to the Faculty both in Communication Studies and Teaching English.

December 05, 2014

[SSJ: 8781] CJG announcements--Dec. 17, Mary M. McCarthy

The Contemporary Japan Group at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), welcomes you to a lecture by

Mary M. McCarthy

Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, Drake University

How American Legislators Came to Befriend the 'Comfort Women'
and Shake up U.S.-Japan Relations

DATE AND PLACE
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
The U.S.-Japan relationship is being tested by the resurgence of history issues, and contending interpretations of the past and the meaning it holds today. In this project, I explore two crucial case
studies: passage of U.S. House Resolution 121, which called on Japan to acknowledge and apologize for the use of “comfort women,” or sexual slaves during WWII, and the erection of “comfort women” memorials throughout the U.S. My thesis is that processes of identity formation (at the individual, group, and national levels) have combined with domestic political dynamics to put the U.S. and Japanese governments at odds. My analysis explores how contemporary understandings were born and evolved and uncovers how these differing interpretations resulted in actions and reactions by the American and Japanese governments.

SPEAKER
Mary M. McCarthy is a visiting scholar at Tokyo International University and an associate professor of politics and international relations at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She received her B.A.
in East Asian studies and her Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Dr. McCarthy specializes in Japan’s domestic and foreign policies.
She has published on topics including the Japanese media, and cooperation and conflict between Japan and China in the East China Sea. Her current research examines the historical legacies of the Asia-Pacific War on Japan’s foreign relations. Dr. McCarthy is a
2014 Japan Studies Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington and a Mansfield Foundation U.S.-Japan Network for the Future Scholar.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

[SSJ: 8780] Beyond Nationalism? ICU-Sophia Symposium, Dec 20 (ICU)

From: Giorgio Shani
Date: 2014/12/05

Dear colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that the 34th ICU-Sophia symposium will be held at Dialogue House, International Christian University on Saturday December 20. The title of the symposium,organized by the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) of ICU and the Institute for Global Concern (IGC) of Sophia University, is Beyond Nationalism? Religion and Peacebuilding in Asia.

The keynote speakers are Prof. Sudipta Kaviraj (Columbia University), Prof. Shin Chiba (ICU) and Prof.
Koichi Nakano (Sophia). For more details including a full program, please see here:
http://ssri-igc.com/?lang=en

The centenary commemorations of the First World War serve as a stark reminder of the perils of nationalism which have as yet remained unheeded throughout Asia. In a lecture given in Japan as the war unfolded, the Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore criticized the nation-state and offered a vision of a society independent of it. The twentieth century, however, saw a proliferation of nationalist ideology throught the region and the establishment of an international society of nation-states. In recent years, the revival of nationalism, which had previously remained dormant since the Second World War, has threatened peace and stability in the region, most notably in the dispute over the Daiyou/Senkaku islands.
This symposium, the 34th joint symposium held by SSRI and the Institute for Global Concern (Sophia University), will seek to critically interrogate the prospects for peace in Asia by posing the following
question: What can be done to counter the rise of nationalism within Asia and what role, if any, can inter-faith dialogue play in peacebuilding in the region?

December 03, 2014

I'm looking for a part-time Research Assistant for 10 weeks' work beginning 5th January 2015. The aim of the project is to explore the effects of governance and institutional arrangements on the policymaking processes that shape the 'integration' of immigrants / foreign residents in Osaka and Yokohama. The first stage of the project will involve focus groups with foreign residents and semi-structured interviews with representatives from local government and migrant-support NGOs in Osaka.

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with some experience of organising interviews and/or focus groups and transcribing the resulting data. Knowledge of governance, citizenship or immigration research would be an advantage, as would previous research involving central or local government. The position would suit someone with a good command of English, living in or near Osaka.

Applicants are asked to submit a CV and short covering letter, explaining how their skills match the requirements of the role, to hardeep.aiden@bristol.ac.uk by Thursday 18th December.
Pay and hours are to be negotiated, depending on the successful candidate's availability and experience.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an informal chat at Osaka City University during the week commencing 22nd December.

Please forward this email to anyone whom you think may be suitable for the role.

Many thanks
Hardeep

--
Hardeep Aiden
Postgraduate Researcher

School for Policy Studies
University of Bristol
8 Priory Road
Bristol BS8 1TZ

[SSJ: 8778] 【Notice】 Invitation to 103rd GRIPS Forum on 15th December

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2014/12/03

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on December 15.

*Please register at Registration Form by December 12
(Fri)17：00.
https://gremind.grips.ac.jp/form/0002/the-103rd-grips-f
orum-on-15th-december/
＜We will close registration after the participation limit is reached. We will inform you if the limit is
reached.＞

*If you can’t open the registration form, please send an email to gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address without changing the title.

*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Abstract:
The former Mitsubishi, which was established just after the Meiji restoration and grew alongside Japan as it developed in the period prior to the Second World War, was dissolved at the end of the war 75 years after it was founded. The sales department of the former Mitsubishi was reestablished in 1954 as Mitsubishi Corporation, and since then its operations have included expanding overseas markets for Japanese products, developing and importing overseas resources and energy, and developing domestic and overseas food supply networks. Now that Japan has matured as a country, Mitsubishi Corporation is taking globalization forward and seeking new business models while expanding its operations in developing countries.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

[SSJ: 8777] Assistant professor position at IUJ

The International Relations Program at the Graduate School of International Relations at the International University of Japan invites applications for one or two tenure-track Assistant Professor positions in the areas of international relations and/or regional studies of Asia to begin either on September 1, 2015 or, preferably, on April 1, 2015.

The successful candidates will be expected to teach graduate students in basic courses on international relations and regional studies, and to supervise M.A.
theses in the English language. They should demonstrate high standards of professional research, teaching, and service.

Applicants should be new or recent Ph.D. graduates. Or applicants must have a PhD conferred or to be completed by September 1, 2015. Female candidates are encouraged to apply. The position will remain open until it is filled.

The Graduate School of International Relations at the International University of Japan is composed of graduate students from more than forty countries. The University values diversity within the faculty, staff, and student body.

Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience, based on International University of Japan pay scales.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Each candidate should submit the following: a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a sample of professional writing (dissertation or other academic publication), a personal statement that includes a description of research and teaching, and three (3) letters of reference. Other materials, such as evidence of quality teaching and syllabi for courses taught, are helpful.

Contact Information:
All application materials except the three letters of reference should be submitted via email to the Office of Academic Affairs at irappli@iuj.ac.jp.

The three letters of reference should be directly mailed to the Office of Academic Affairs.
(Mailing address: 777 Kokusaicho, Minamiuonuma City, Niigata, 949-7277, Japan)

For additional information about the International Relations Program, please visit the website at http://gsir.iuj.ac.jp/irp/ir_features.html

December 01, 2014

[SSJ: 8775] Research assistant position open at University of Vienna

We are looking for a part time research assistant for two years in an externally funded project on parental well-being in Japan and Germany.

The Institute for East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna is looking for:
Position: Research Assistant (Pre- or
Post-doc)
Workload: part time (20h/week)
Duration: 2-years
Start of employment: now or as soon as possible

Responsibilities:
The Research Assistant for the DFG (German Science Foundation)-funded project "Parental Well-Being - Germany and Japan in Comparison" will support senior research staff with the analysis of the statistical data, the preparation of charts, tables, etc.
copy-editing, and the write up of findings.
Organizational support for project workshops is also part of the work.

Qualifications:
REQUIRED:
. University Degree (MA or PhD or equivalent),
preferably in sociology (or related field) and /or Japanese studies (ideal is a Japan specialist with sound sociological, quantitative training)
. Good knowledge of quantitative research methods
. Experience working with SPSS
. Good literature search and reviewing skills
. Proofreading skills
. High English proficiency
. Ability to work independently.
. Able to work at the University of Vienna.
. Team spirit!

OPTIONAL:
. Japanese language skills
. Specialization in international survey
methodology or family sociology
. German language skills

This talk discusses the ongoing relief and recovery activities of Buddhist priests in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown by examining priests' traditional role as carers for the dead as well as their attempts to address the emotional needs of the tsunami and nuclear evacuees.

The sheer loss of human life, the disruption of or limited access to graves, the destruction or forced abandonment of temples and home altars, have in themselves presented an unprecedented challenge for the performance of the long-established funeral and memorial service duties that befall priests in Japanese temple Buddhism. Offering comfort to the bereaved families of dead parishioners has been an integral, though rarely explicit part of their care work; and one for which they receive no formal training. However, the all-pervasive trauma caused by mass death, displacement and the breaking down of communal bonds left many priests with the sense of responsibility to do more; consequently catalyzing broader Buddhist interest in mental health related practices. By juxtaposing priests' discourses and reflections on their traditional care for the souls of the dead and the recent attention to the psycho-spiritual support for the living, this talk will tease out the shared emphasis on priests as mediators and facilitators of social (re)integration.

Maja Veselič (PhD in anthropology) has just concluded her tenure as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Comparative Culture, Sophia University, Tokyo. Over the past two years she has conducted research on Buddhist aid provision and recovery support in post-3.11 Tohoku, with a side interest on local disaster storytellers (kataribe). Her previous work has focused on issues of ethnicity and religion in the People's Republic of China, especially with reference to Muslim minorities.

November 28, 2014

[SSJ: 8772] Sophia University ICC Lecture announcement (Dec 15)

From: Sophia Univ., Institute of Comparative Culture
Date: 2014/11/28

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2014

Give back peace that will never end: Hibakusha poets as public intellectuals Cassandra Atherton (Alfred Deakin Research Institute,
Melbourne)
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2014-2015/14121
5_Atherton.pdf

Noam Chomsky has argued that the most effective public intellectuals are dissident intellectuals who act from the margins. The US censorship of public discussion of the bombings during the Allied Occupation of Japan ensured that the public did not understand all that had occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This lack of discussion about the A-bomb and the scientific testing on hibakusha saw them stigmatised, however this marginalisation makes them powerful public intellectuals. Hibakusha poets such as Toge Sankichi and Eisaku Yoneda offer a kind of authentic 'evidencing' and recording of the horror of the events
of the atomic bombing. The simplicity and
accessibility of these poems are essential to the public dissemination of their message, however this has worked against their preservation in the literary canon. This is, in part, because the literary canon prioritises a greater sophistication of language and range of poetic techniques. This paper examines the way in which hibakusha poets can be recognised as public intellectuals. It hinges on a number of considerations centred on public intellectualism,
canonicity and use of language.

Cassandra Atherton is an award winning writer, critic, interviewer and one of Australia's leading experts on public intellectuals. She has published six books (with two more in progress) and over the last three years has been invited to edit five special editions of leading refereed journals. She will take up Visiting Scholar status at Harvard University in 2015 - 2016 and is an affiliate of the Monash Centre for Japanese Studies. Cassandra has been awarded five literary awards for her books and articles and has been a successful recipient of more than fifteen national and international research grants and teaching awards. She was a judge of the prestigious Australian Book Review fiction award in 2014 and was recently invited to be a judge of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in 2015.

People’s cross-border mobility has been an integral part of Japan’s history. Despite a decline in the speed and frequency of international migration in Japan’s post-war era, the migration to Japan has become a significant force since the 1980s, stimulating Japanese society and helping shape the new social and cultural landscapes of Japan. The presence of immigrants challenges the myth of a homogeneous nation many Japanese people and scholars of Japan once entertained. In more recent years, the increase of visibly foreign faces and the unfamiliar languages spoken has also added a sense of excitement and anxiety to the Japanese public.

Existing scholarship on new immigrants in Japan has given substantial attention to the life of Filipino and Chinese marriage migrants, Chinese students and migrant workers of various skill levels, and migrants from Latin America with Japanese ancestry (Nikkei). However, the shifting terrain of immigration policy and economic reforms in Japan, alongside recent crises, means that the dynamics of immigration to Japan are changing rapidly. More importantly, thirty years have passed since the onset of Japan’s ‘internationalisation’ policies shifted towards increasing migration. Those seen as ‘new’ migrant groups are no longer merely new arrivals, with a large number of 1.5 and 2nd generation immigrants having grown up in Japan and calling Japan home. Their education, work and social life tells a story of both Japan’s present and its future.

This workshop aims to capture emerging phenomena related to immigration in Japan. It is particularly interested in showcasing the work of young scholars who are currently researching these important developments. Acknowledging the unique contribution they make as scholars currently engaged in fieldwork, this workshop will provide an opportunity to better understand the changing landscape and possible future of immigration in contemporary Japan.

We seek contributors whose research addresses the following aspects of immigrant life in Japan:
l The organizational life of new immigrants, including schools, workplaces;
l The building of social relations and communities (not limited to co-ethnic);
l Citizenship consciousness and various forms of belonging;
l Issues related to acculturation, identity and well-being;
l 1.5 and second generation immigrants, including those of mixed descents (e.g. children of Filipino-Japanese parents and Chinese-Japanese parents)

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Presentation proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250 words maximum and a brief personal biography for submission by 19 December 2014. Please send all proposals to Dr. Jamie Coates at jamie.coates@gmail.com. Successful applicants will be notified by 10 January 2015.
Based on the quality of proposals and the availability of funds, partial or full funding will be granted to successful applicants. Because of the limited funding, participants are therefore encouraged to seek funding for travel from their home institutions.

Abstract:
Indonesia has weathering well the recent global spillovers and market volatility. It emerged out from the so-called "fragile five" last year to become one of the most prospective economy. Macroeconomic and financial stability have been sound with relatively high economic growth. Market confidence has resumed and strong, lead to large inflows of direct and portfolio investments. The success owe to the decisive and timely responses by Bank Indonesia in close coordination with the Government through policy mix of monetary, macro prudential, and fiscal policies. Following the recent smooth democratic process, Indonesia is poised to higher, inclusive and sustainable growth over the long-term. The new Government has shown its strong determination to accelerate structural reforms in many
areas: investment, infrastructure, industry, maritime, agriculture and SMEs. The recent bold decision on subsidy reform is an excellent start, and more structural reforms will follow. The lecture will discuss the recent development and prospect of Indonesia economy, and how the authorities manage stability over the short-term and unlock the growth potential over the long-term.

Will the US Defend the Senkakus ?
- Paul Sracic and Jun Okumura
============
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speakers:
Paul Sracic, Chair, the Department of Politics and International Relations at Youngstown State University in Ohio Jun Okumura, visiting researcher at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (MIGA), special advisor to the National Students Information Center (NISA), and counselor at a risk analysis firm
Moderator:
Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
============

Dear friends,

Paul Sracic and Jun Okumura will discuss and debate the question of the United States' willingness and ability to join in the defense of Japan in case of a Chinese attack on the Senkaku islands.

Speakers

Paul Sracic chairs the Department of Politics and International Relations at Youngstown State University in Ohio. His latest book, Ohio Government and Politics (co-authored with William Binning), will be published in March by Congressional Quarterly Press. He is also the author of San Antonio v. Rodriguez and the Pursuit of Equal Education (University Press of Kansas, 2006) and co-author of the Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns, and Elections (Greenwood, 1998). Dr.
Sracic's op-eds on American and Ohio politics have appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, Bloomberg View, CNN.com, the Atlantic.com, and The Diplomat. Dr.
Sracic is a former Fulbright Scholar in Japan, where he taught American Politics at the University of Tokyo and Sophia University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rutgers University.

Jun Okumura

entered the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI, then MITI) upon graduation from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tokyo. During his career at the ministry, he was stationed in Brazil, headed the JETRO office in New York City, and obtained an LLM at Harvard Law School. He is now visiting researcher at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (MIGA), special advisor to the National Students Information Center
(NISA), and counselor at a risk analysis firm. A
frequent commentator on Japanese affairs and participant in ICAS events, his blog, Global Talk, is at http://son-of-gadfly-on-the-wall.blogspot.jp/

[SSJ: 8768] School of East Asian Studies research student scholarships 2015

From: Katherine Gallagher
Date: 2014/11/28

Dear all,

The School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) at The University of Sheffield would like to invite applications for postgraduate scholarships for 2015/16 entry starting from October 2015.
SEAS offers single country supervision on China, Japan and Korea as well as transnational processes and linkages.
Applications covering
both social science and humanities topics are welcome.

Please see our webpages for details:

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/seas/researchdegrees

The deadline for applications is 12pm on Tuesday 3 February 2015.
Late applications will not be accepted.

November 24, 2014

[SSJ: 8766] Part-time position

From: David H. Slater
Date: 2014/11/24

We have open a position for a part-time research assistant in a larger project on 3.11 disaster, relief and rebuilding. We are looking for a responsible, independent worker with Japanese (near native) and English (communicative) ability and internet research skills.

This position would be of most interest to a younger scholar working a related field, but is open to anyone interested. Most of the work can be done on your own time away from our office, but some consultation would be necessary.

If you are interested, please contact David Slater
(d-slater[at]sophia.ac.jp)

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture Professor of Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies Sophia University, Tokyo

November 22, 2014

[SSJ: 8765] CFP: Galapagosizing Japan? The Third Bi-Annual Conference of the Israeli Association for Japanese Studies (IAJS), May 11-13, 2015, Tel Aviv

From: Nissim Otmazgin
Date: 2014/11/22

Call for Papers

Galapagosizing Japan?
The Challenges of Participation and the Costs of Isolation

The Third Bi-Annual Conference of the Israeli Association for Japanese Studies (IAJS)

Dear Colleagues,

The Israeli Association for Japanese Studies would like to invite you to submit proposals for its third bi-annual conference, which will convene at Tel Aviv University, Israel, on May 11-13, 2015.

The broader theme for the conference will be "Galapagosizing Japan? The Challenges of Participation and the Costs of Isolation". Proposals may address this topic from various perspectives, such as, Japanese politics and economy, social and cultural processes, Japan in historical and trans-national perspective. We encourage proposals from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to political science, anthropology, economics, cultural studies, international relations, literature, that would illuminate on the processes taking place within Japan as well as on Japan's place in the regional and global scene. Organized panels and individual papers that address topics other than the conference's main topic will be considered as well.

Language of the conference: English, Hebrew, and Japanese.
Proposals for panels as well as individual papers should include name, title, institutional affiliation, and an abstract of up to 300 words with relevant keywords listed. The proposals are to be sent to Ms.
Shir Shapira, IAJS Secretary (con.iajs@gmail.com) by February 10, 2015. Proposals from abroad are open to non-members of IAJS. Successful applicants will be notified by February 28, 2015.
The organizers will strive to secure funding for accommodation to participants from abroad. No registration fee is required.
Conference Venue: Tel Aviv University, Israel

Situated in Israel's cultural, financial, and technological capital, TAU shares Tel Aviv's unshakable spirit of openness and innovation - and boasts a campus life as dynamic and pluralistic as the metropolis itself. Tel Aviv the city and Tel Aviv the university are one and the same - a thriving Mediterranean center of diversity and discovery.

Proposals should include the following information:
For Organized Panels
. Panel title
. Panel abstract (limited to 300 words) with
relevant key words
. Abstracts of papers in the panel (limited to
150 words each)
. Name of panel chair including institutional
affiliation and contact information
. Names of all participants including
institutional affiliation and contact information

The Israeli Association for Japanese Studies (IAJS) is a cross-university association dedicated to the promotion of research and teaching of Japan in Israel.
IAJS is a non-profit organization whose aims are to address the academic interest in Israel in the field of Japanese studies and the need for better coordination among the various researchers and academic institutions working in the field. IAJS seeks to encourage Japanese-related research and dialogue in Israel, to promote Japanese language teaching, to organize symposiums, workshops and conferences in the field of Japanese studies, and to advance the academic ties and collaboration with other associations and academic institutions of Japanese studies abroad (www.japan-studies.org).

New book by Nissim Otmazgin, Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia, now out by University of Hawai'i Press!
See the book here:
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9036-9780824836948.aspx

The real question is this: If Abe’s strategy, known as Abenomics, is such a miraculous revival plan, why was the delay necessary? And, given Abe’s track record, why should anyone trust his guarantee that he will make the economy strong enough by 2017 to weather another tax hike? Healthy economies are not thrown into recession by relatively small hikes in a consumption tax from five percent to eight percent, but Japan’s was—indicating that it isn’t healthy and that Abenomics has done little to help.

In some ways, Abenomics has made the situation worse.
It’s not just the tax hike. There is also the 30 percent yen depreciation that Abe encouraged as a way to increase exports. Just as I discussed in my recent article for Foreign Affairs, because Abe left many structural competitive problems unaddressed, the depreciation has done nothing of the sort, spurring no real growth at home. Instead, price hikes sparked by the depreciation have led to a big decline in price-adjusted incomes. Among working families, real disposable incomes are down six percent from a year ago. That is why consumer spending has plunged and why the economy is in recession.

Supposedly, Abenomics has three “arrows”: monetary stimulus, fiscal stimulus, and structural reform. Over time, fiscal stimulus was replaced by austerity.
Structural reform was always more talk than action. As a result, all that remains of the three arrows is monetary stimulus—the Bank of Japan governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, flooding the system with money by buying Japanese government bonds…On October 31, the Bank of Japan announced that it would up its Japanese government bond purchases to ¥80 trillion ($690
billion) per year, almost twice as much as the government’s annual budget deficit. So, at the same time that Kuroda sends out false alarms that tax hike postponement would lead to a debt crisis, he is removing the cause of that potential crisis by reducing private holdings of the debt.

Abenomics is banking on the hope that monetary stimulus alone can engender growth by reviving “animal spirits”
via inflation. Kuroda is acting like a doctor who says he can make a severe asthmatic run by giving him lots of oxygen. When the patient points out that he also has a broken leg in need of surgery, Kuroda proposes to double the oxygen. If Abe were implementing a genuine three-arrow program, he would use fiscal and monetary stimulus as anesthesia to make possible the long and difficult surgery of structural reform. But for too long, Japan has used fiscal and monetary stimulus as a narcotic to dull the pain and thereby avoid the surgery. And, for too long, it has swung back and forth between poorly implemented fiscal stimulus and ill-timed bouts of fiscal austerity. Abe is continuing that tradition.

Consider just one of the many cases in which Abe talks of bold action, but does very little: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks. The talks are in danger of turning into another Doha Round, where negotiations go on forever and nothing gets signed.
There are many causes, but one of the most important is Tokyo’s refusal to eliminate most of the import trade barriers in a few farm products: beef, pork, dairy, and wheat. The tragedy is that Japan, not its trading partners, has the most to gain from freeing up its market. A true reformer would liberalize farming, not because Washington demands it but because the Japanese economy needs it. Japanese consumers spend 14 percent of their household budget on food, far more than the six percent Americans spend. Imports of cheaper food, along with reforms in the food industry, could drastically lower this cost and release consumer spending power for other products.

Instead, Abe is sacrificing the welfare of 46 million Japanese households for the sake of the mere 100,000 households involved in those few products. Most of the latter are aging part-time farmers who get the lion’s share of their income from nonfarm work, government subsidies, and pensions. Abe heeds their demands because malapportionment enables the rural districts to select an outsized share of the Diet members and because one of the pivotal allies for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is the adamantly anti-TPP farm lobby….

The LDP-led coalition, which now controls more than two-thirds of the seats, expects to lose just 30–40 of those. That would leave it with a very comfortable majority of 45–55 seats. But if the disgruntled voters take away any more of the ruling coalition’s seats, they will send a message that economic malfeasance carries a political price.

The real question is this: If Abe’s strategy, known as Abenomics, is such a miraculous revival plan, why was the delay necessary? And, given Abe’s track record, why should anyone trust his guarantee that he will make the economy strong enough by 2017 to weather another tax hike? Healthy economies are not thrown into recession by relatively small hikes in a consumption tax from five percent to eight percent, but Japan’s was—indicating that it isn’t healthy and that Abenomics has done little to help.

In some ways, Abenomics has made the situation worse.
It’s not just the tax hike. There is also the 30 percent yen depreciation that Abe encouraged as a way to increase exports. Just as I discussed in my recent article for Foreign Affairs, because Abe left many structural competitive problems unaddressed, the depreciation has done nothing of the sort, spurring no real growth at home. Instead, price hikes sparked by the depreciation have led to a big decline in price-adjusted incomes. Among working families, real disposable incomes are down six percent from a year ago. That is why consumer spending has plunged and why the economy is in recession.

Supposedly, Abenomics has three “arrows”: monetary stimulus, fiscal stimulus, and structural reform. Over time, fiscal stimulus was replaced by austerity.
Structural reform was always more talk than action. As a result, all that remains of the three arrows is monetary stimulus—the Bank of Japan governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, flooding the system with money by buying Japanese government bonds…On October 31, the Bank of Japan announced that it would up its Japanese government bond purchases to ¥80 trillion ($690
billion) per year, almost twice as much as the government’s annual budget deficit. So, at the same time that Kuroda sends out false alarms that tax hike postponement would lead to a debt crisis, he is removing the cause of that potential crisis by reducing private holdings of the debt.

Abenomics is banking on the hope that monetary stimulus alone can engender growth by reviving “animal spirits”
via inflation. Kuroda is acting like a doctor who says he can make a severe asthmatic run by giving him lots of oxygen. When the patient points out that he also has a broken leg in need of surgery, Kuroda proposes to double the oxygen. If Abe were implementing a genuine three-arrow program, he would use fiscal and monetary stimulus as anesthesia to make possible the long and difficult surgery of structural reform. But for too long, Japan has used fiscal and monetary stimulus as a narcotic to dull the pain and thereby avoid the surgery. And, for too long, it has swung back and forth between poorly implemented fiscal stimulus and ill-timed bouts of fiscal austerity. Abe is continuing that tradition.

Consider just one of the many cases in which Abe talks of bold action, but does very little: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks. The talks are in danger of turning into another Doha Round, where negotiations go on forever and nothing gets signed.
There are many causes, but one of the most important is Tokyo’s refusal to eliminate most of the import trade barriers in a few farm products: beef, pork, dairy, and wheat. The tragedy is that Japan, not its trading partners, has the most to gain from freeing up its market. A true reformer would liberalize farming, not because Washington demands it but because the Japanese economy needs it. Japanese consumers spend 14 percent of their household budget on food, far more than the six percent Americans spend. Imports of cheaper food, along with reforms in the food industry, could drastically lower this cost and release consumer spending power for other products.

Instead, Abe is sacrificing the welfare of 46 million Japanese households for the sake of the mere 100,000 households involved in those few products. Most of the latter are aging part-time farmers who get the lion’s share of their income from nonfarm work, government subsidies, and pensions. Abe heeds their demands because malapportionment enables the rural districts to select an outsized share of the Diet members and because one of the pivotal allies for Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is the adamantly anti-TPP farm lobby….

The LDP-led coalition, which now controls more than two-thirds of the seats, expects to lose just 30–40 of those. That would leave it with a very comfortable majority of 45–55 seats. But if the disgruntled voters take away any more of the ruling coalition’s seats, they will send a message that economic malfeasance carries a political price.

This [tax delay] is absolutely the right decision…In economic policy, doing the right things at the wrong time, or in the wrong order, can spell disaster. At some point Japan must raise taxes, although there are much better taxes to raise than the consumption tax.
But first Japan needs to revive self-sustaining growth.

The best evidence for delay is the impact of the first hike. So far this year, the consumer retrenchment has been twice as severe as at the same stage of the prolonged recession that followed the 1997 tax hike.
Spending is down because income is down.

[snip]

The alarms raised about a severe market reaction to a tax delay were just scare tactics bureaucrats used to get politicians in line. Fiscal hawks claimed that any delay would cause the stock market to crash because investors would doubt Japan’s “fiscal credibility.”
Instead, the opposite has happened: Word of a possible delay sent stock prices soaring to levels not seen since 2007. Then there was the fable from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda that interest rates could spike as they did in Greece. Mr. Kuroda knows better.
Unlike the crisis countries of Europe, Japan finances its own debt, and the BOJ has proven its ability to keep interest rates down. As of press time, he has gotten the yield on 10-year Japan Government Bonds down to a near-record low of 0.48%.

Moreover, the BOJ is already purchasing so many government bonds as part of its monetary-easing policy that holdings by other investors have declined to 142% of GDP as of September from 154% of GDP before Mr.
Abe’s return to power. With its latest round of easing on Oct. 31, the BOJ plans to buy ¥80 trillion ($690
billion) per year in government bonds, almost twice as much as the national government’s annual budget deficit. So while the BOJ cries wolf about a debt crisis, it is reducing the cause of that potential crisis by buying up the debt.

Certainly, the government cannot run huge deficits forever. But Japan surely has enough time to promote a genuine recovery—which would help cut deficits—instead of strangling that recovery in its cradle through fiscal austerity.

[snip]

Mr. Abe has shown that a determined prime minister has the power to overrule the bureaucracy when he really wants to. He should put that determination on display once again and challenge both bureaucrats and domestic special interests on issues involving his “third arrow”
of structural reform….

At the root of Abenomics is a false theory that Japan’s economic malaise results from a lack of confidence produced by deflation. Mr. Abe hoped that he could solve Japan’s problems by printing lots of money to restore inflation. So when voters go to the polls …., they should ask themselves a simple question: If Abenomics is really so terrific, why has a delay in the tax hike become necessary? Healthy economies are not thrown into recession by a relatively small sales-tax hike to 8% from 5%. But Japan is not a healthy economy.
And Abenomics has not made it healthier.

Abstract:
The Japanese fiscal situation is the worst among the advanced countries with the debt to GDP ratio exceeding 240%. However, there is no sign of fiscal crisis as shown by the super low bond rate. On the expenditure side, it is very difficult to stop an increase in social security expenditures-pension, medical, and long term care-due to aging of the population. On the revenue side, it is difficult to conceive a sharp increase in income tax and corporate tax. Consumption tax is the only hope. It is highly likely that a fiscal crisis will happen in the first half of the 2020s, if the government fails to introduce a series of the consumption tax rate hikes.

Speakers’ Profile:
Takatoshi Ito, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, and Project Professor at University of Tokyo, has taught both in the United States and Japan since his finishing Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University in 1979. Before assuming the current position, Ito taught at University of Minnesota, Hitotsubashi University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia Business School, and Tun Ismail Ali Chair Professor at University of Malaya. He was also appointed in the official sectors, as Senior Advisor in the Research Department, IMF, as Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs at Ministry of Finance Japan, as a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, and as the chairman of “Panel for Sophisticating the Management of Public/Quasi-public Funds.”

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

Japanese American filmmakers Dianne Fukami and Debra Nakatomi will discuss the film and respond to questions following the screening.

Stories From Tohoku examines survivors' strength, resilience, grace and acceptance, and the enduring bonds between the people of Japan and Americans of Japanese ancestry.
During Japan's recovery and rebuilding following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, the film is an inspiring tribute to the human spirit.
www.storiesfromtohoku.com

[SSJ: 8760] International Symposium "Prospects and Challenges for the Future Generation"

From: Tomoko Nakamura
Date: 2014/11/18

Dear all,

We would like to invite you to a symposium co-organized by The Japan Foundation and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

・Date： 03. December 2014 (Wed) 09.30 - 17.40 Uhr (admission at 09.00)
・Venue： The Japan Foundation, Sakura Hall, Yotsuya 4-4-1, Shinjuku Access Map:
http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/about/outline/contact/pdf/map.pd
f
・Languages：English - Japanese with simultaneous translation services (One keynote speech in German with translation service into English and Japanese)
・Admission：Free, registration is required
・Keynote Speeches：
Prof. GENDA Yuji, University of Tokyo: “Young Generation in Japan: Between Hope and Despair”
Prof. Dr. Dr. Karl-Rudolf KORTE, Director, NRW School of Governance, University of Duisburg-Essen: “The Young Generation in Germany: Between Adaptation and Protest”

To download the full program, please access to:
http://www.kas.de/japan/en/events/61806/

-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
In February 2014, Forbes titled an article “Overeducated, underpaid, but optimistic: white-collar millennial workers feel career future is bright.” The article was referring to the results of an international survey among business professionals. Yet, what about members of the “Generation Y” who are not lucky enough to be on a career track already? And what about the “Generation Z” who has not even finished high school? What are the work prospects for this generation?

Evidence suggests that today’s young people will not only suffer long-term consequences from the US financial crisis, the European debt crisis and lower economic growth rates in Asia when they try to get a first foothold in the job market. For the foreseeable future, a growing amount of young people will also need to cope with precarious and non-standard or irregular forms of working. In most countries worldwide, the outlook for a strong start in life is therefore rather bleak. For many teenagers and people in their twenties “big dreams” are of no avail.

Experts fear that the future prospects on the work markets will affect more than just career advancement.
It might also hamper adulthood: getting married, buying a house and having children. Today’s conference will address these challenges among distinguished experts from various disciplines and analyse possible policy reforms both from a Japanese, German and Asian perspective.
-------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------

Please apply with your full name, affiliation and contact information by 30 November to the KAS Japan Office via E-Mail (KAS-Tokyo@kas.de).
Registrations will be handled on a first come, first served basis. Please note that a rejection-notification will be sent out if the maximum number of participants has been reached. If your registration was successful, there will be no further confirmation.

1. Outline of Position
We are seeking to fill the position of Specially Appointed Assistant Professor (Full-time) (Tokunin-jokyo in Japanese) in our Human Sciences International Undergraduate Programme.
See the following website for further details of the programme http://g30.hus.osaka-u.ac.jp/

2. Affiliation
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

3. Working location
Suita Campus with some teaching on Toyonaka Campus.

4. Specialized Field
The successful candidate will teach foundation skills courses and specialist content courses for the Human Sciences International Undergraduate Programme, with a special responsibility for the Global Citizenship Major. Possible disciplinary backgrounds include anthropology, sociology, and political science.

5. Job Description
The successful candidate will make significant contributions to teaching and the smooth operation of the Human Sciences International Undergraduate Programme. The focus is primarily on teaching rather than research, although we would also expect the successful candidate to be research active to some degree. Courses to be taught include freshman courses, Statistics for Social Sciences and Academic Writing, content courses, Peace and Conflict Studies I & II, and Global Citizenship (a shared course for regular students offered in English that includes topics related to citizenship, social justice and equality issues in global society from sociological, anthropological or political science viewpoints). In addition, the successful candidate will offer additional courses in her or his field that will contribute to the Global Citizenship Major in the third and fourth year.

6. Qualifications
Successful candidates will have:
1) Experience of delivering high-quality courses in English
2) A PhD in a relevant field of study
3) A degree of international presence as a researcher in their field
4) Ability to work competently and effectively in English to support the running of the programme.
5) Basic level Japanese communication skills are also desired

7. Commencement of Employment
January 1st, 2015 or as soon after as possible and no later than March, 31st 2015.

8. Term of Employment
This fixed term contract terminates March 31st, 2019.
NB：The term of employment may be shortened if the candidate is or has been employed by Osaka University.

9. Employment Conditions
Discretionary Labour System, Special Work Type *Based on the ‘Regulations Pertaining to Working Hours, Holidays and Leave for National University Corporation Osaka University Limited Term Staff.’
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/guide/information/joho/file
s/37.pdf

10. Salary and Benefits
*Based on the ‘Rules Pertaining to Salary for National University Corporation Osaka University Limited Term Staff Subject to Annual Salary System.’
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/guide/information/joho/file
s/45.pdf
Remuneration: Approximately 4.8 to 5.7 million JPY per annum, depending on qualifications and experience.
Commuting allowance, housing allowance, dependent allowance, retirement allowance and bonus will not be provided.

Insurance
The new appointee will join the National Public Service Personnel Mutual Aid Association, Employment Insurance and Workers’ Accident Compensation Insurance

12. Submission of Application Documents
Please submit all documentation in PDF or Word format to the following address:
englishprogram@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp
Please enter the following subject line when sending
documentation:
Selection Committee HUS International Programme The above email can also be used for inquiries.

14. Selection Process
Applicants will be notified within a few days that the application had been received and is complete.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview in late November to early December.
Shortlisted candidates who are not able to attend a face-to-face meeting will be invited to participate in a Skype-based interview.
Please note that we are not able to reimburse shortlisted candidates for travel or accommodation expenses.

15. Additional Information
Please refer to the ‘Work Regulations for National University Corporation Osaka University Limited Term Staff’ and other regulations concerning work and working conditions.
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/guide/information/joho/kite
i_shugyou.html

November 12, 2014

[SSJ: 8758] 20th Century Japan Research Award 2014-2015

From: Yukako Tatsumi
Date: 2014/11/12

20th Century Japan Research Award for 2014-2015

The Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies and the University of Maryland Libraries invite applications for two $1,500 grants to support research in the library’s Gordon W. Prange Collection and East Asia Collection on topics related to the period of the Allied Occupation of Japan and its aftermath, 1945-1960. Holders of a Ph.D. or an equivalent degree are eligible to apply, as are graduate students who have completed all requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation. The competition is open to scholars in all parts of the world and from any discipline, but historical topics are preferred.
University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students may not apply. More information can be found on the Prange Collection website.

The application deadline is November 21, 2014. The grant must be used by October 30, 2015. Grant funds will be disbursed in the form of reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals, reproductions, and related research expenses. Such costs as computers or software are not eligible. Reimbursement will require submission of receipts for processing by the University.

All applications must be submitted electronically by attachment to millercenter@umd.edu with “Twentieth-Century Japan Research Awards” in the subject line. Applications must include a curriculum vitae and a two-to three-page description
(double-spaced) of the research project. Applications from graduate students must be accompanied by a letter from the principal faculty advisor attesting to the significance of the dissertation project and to the student’s completion of all other degree requirements.

Materials in the Gordon W. Prange Collection include virtually all Japanese-language newspapers, news agency releases, magazines, pamphlets, and books dating from the period of Allied censorship, 1945-1949, in addition to over 10,000 newspaper photos. There are also materials published by Chinese and Korean residents, most of which are written in Japanese. Related collections in English include the personal papers of Charles Kades and Justin Williams. Office correspondence documenting policies and decisions of the Publications, Pictorial, and Broadcast Division, Civil Censorship Detachment (Civil Intelligence Section), Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Japan, are complementary to official Occupation records housed at the National Archives, College Park.
Japanese newspapers and magazines from the Prange Collection are available for research on microform in the East Asia Collection. Other Prange materials are made available for research in the Prange Collection reading area after consultation with the Prange Curator or Manager. The East Asia Collection contains Japanese-language books published during the wartime period, scholarly monographs on Occupied Japan, and a wide variety of reference works.

A one-page summary of research findings is required at the conclusion of the grant period.

For further information about the collections, consult the following websites: http:/www.lib.umd.edu/prange and http://www.lib.umd.edu/EASIA/eastasia.html

[SSJ: 8758] 20th Century Japan Research Award 2014-2015

From: Yukako Tatsumi
Date: 2014/11/12

20th Century Japan Research Award for 2014-2015

The Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies and the University of Maryland Libraries invite applications for two $1,500 grants to support research in the library’s Gordon W. Prange Collection and East Asia Collection on topics related to the period of the Allied Occupation of Japan and its aftermath, 1945-1960. Holders of a Ph.D. or an equivalent degree are eligible to apply, as are graduate students who have completed all requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation. The competition is open to scholars in all parts of the world and from any discipline, but historical topics are preferred.
University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students may not apply. More information can be found on the Prange Collection website.

The application deadline is November 21, 2014. The grant must be used by October 30, 2015. Grant funds will be disbursed in the form of reimbursement for travel, lodging, meals, reproductions, and related research expenses. Such costs as computers or software are not eligible. Reimbursement will require submission of receipts for processing by the University.

All applications must be submitted electronically by attachment to millercenter@umd.edu with “Twentieth-Century Japan Research Awards” in the subject line. Applications must include a curriculum vitae and a two-to three-page description
(double-spaced) of the research project. Applications from graduate students must be accompanied by a letter from the principal faculty advisor attesting to the significance of the dissertation project and to the student’s completion of all other degree requirements.

Materials in the Gordon W. Prange Collection include virtually all Japanese-language newspapers, news agency releases, magazines, pamphlets, and books dating from the period of Allied censorship, 1945-1949, in addition to over 10,000 newspaper photos. There are also materials published by Chinese and Korean residents, most of which are written in Japanese. Related collections in English include the personal papers of Charles Kades and Justin Williams. Office correspondence documenting policies and decisions of the Publications, Pictorial, and Broadcast Division, Civil Censorship Detachment (Civil Intelligence Section), Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Japan, are complementary to official Occupation records housed at the National Archives, College Park.
Japanese newspapers and magazines from the Prange Collection are available for research on microform in the East Asia Collection. Other Prange materials are made available for research in the Prange Collection reading area after consultation with the Prange Curator or Manager. The East Asia Collection contains Japanese-language books published during the wartime period, scholarly monographs on Occupied Japan, and a wide variety of reference works.

A one-page summary of research findings is required at the conclusion of the grant period.

For further information about the collections, consult the following websites: http:/www.lib.umd.edu/prange and http://www.lib.umd.edu/EASIA/eastasia.html

DATE AND PLACE
THURSDAY, November 20, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
After Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda jolted global markets with his Halloween surprise stimulus, he said the bold Abenomics bid to end the country's long slump had reached a "critical moment." When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched his program in late 2012, it was greeted with widespread enthusiasm and support from voters, economists, investors, executives, and consumers. Now they're having second thoughts. Mr.
Abe's poll numbers are falling, as households say they're feeling more pain than gain. Mr. Kuroda's own policy board is split, his latest move approved by a bare 5-4 majority secured only at the last minute. Are these the inevitable pains of a recovering economy in transition? Or the signs of yet another Japanese growth plan fizzling out? Or, worse, the beginning of the economic collapse predicted by the Abenomics' harshest critics? A journalist's layperson-friendly dissection of where Japan's economy has been the past two years, and where it's heading -- including a handicapping of big decisions looming, on taxes and structural reforms.

SPEAKER
Jacob M. Schlesinger is Senior Asia Economics Correspondent and Central Banks Editor, Asia for The Wall Street Journal, based in Tokyo. He has covered Japan for the Journal for nearly 10 years in many different capacities. He came first as a reporter following tech, trade, and politics from the end of the bubble to the early years of the "lost decades," from
1989 to 1994. He returned as bureau chief in late 2009, overseeing the historic transfer of power to the Democratic Party of Japan, rising tensions with China, the 2011 triple disaster, and the return of Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the grand Abenomics experiment. Schlesinger started with the Journal in Detroit in 1986, covering the American auto industry, and worked for 13 years in the Washington bureau, covering economics and politics, and serving as deputy bureau chief. In 2003, Schlesinger was part of a team of Journal reporters awarded the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for the “What’s Wrong” series about the causes and consequences of the late-1990s financial bubble. After finishing his first tour in Japan, he authored the book "Shadow Shoguns: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Postwar Political Machine"
published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster. While writing his book, he was a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Asia-Pacific Research Center. A native of East Lansing, Michigan, he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

DATE AND PLACE
Tuesday, November 20, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
After Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda jolted global markets with his Halloween surprise stimulus, he said the bold Abenomics bid to end the country's long slump had reached a "critical moment." When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched his program in late 2012, it was greeted with widespread enthusiasm and support from voters, economists, investors, executives, and consumers. Now they're having second thoughts. Mr.
Abe's poll numbers are falling, as households say they're feeling more pain than gain. Mr. Kuroda's own policy board is split, his latest move approved by a bare 5-4 majority secured only at the last minute. Are these the inevitable pains of a recovering economy in transition? Or the signs of yet another Japanese growth plan fizzling out? Or, worse, the beginning of the economic collapse predicted by the Abenomics' harshest critics? A journalist's layperson-friendly dissection of where Japan's economy has been the past two years, and where it's heading -- including a handicapping of big decisions looming, on taxes and structural reforms.

SPEAKER
Jacob M. Schlesinger is Senior Asia Economics Correspondent and Central Banks Editor, Asia for The Wall Street Journal, based in Tokyo. He has covered Japan for the Journal for nearly 10 years in many different capacities. He came first as a reporter following tech, trade, and politics from the end of the bubble to the early years of the "lost decades," from
1989 to 1994. He returned as bureau chief in late 2009, overseeing the historic transfer of power to the Democratic Party of Japan, rising tensions with China, the 2011 triple disaster, and the return of Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the grand Abenomics experiment. Schlesinger started with the Journal in Detroit in 1986, covering the American auto industry, and worked for 13 years in the Washington bureau, covering economics and politics, and serving as deputy bureau chief. In 2003, Schlesinger was part of a team of Journal reporters awarded the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting for the “What’s Wrong” series about the causes and consequences of the late-1990s financial bubble. After finishing his first tour in Japan, he authored the book "Shadow Shoguns: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Postwar Political Machine"
published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster. While writing his book, he was a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Asia-Pacific Research Center. A native of East Lansing, Michigan, he received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

Abstract:
The U.S. midterm elections of November 4, 2014 will set the parameters of what the Obama Administration can do in its last two years in both domestic and foreign policy. In a globalizing world, U.S.-Japan relations is increasingly affected by world events, in particular, America’s and Japan’s relations with other countries and regions, including China, Russia, South Korea, etc. In addition, changes in American society and Japanese society are requiring a re-thinking of the orthodox approach to the bilateral relationship. I propose to discuss the implications of these global and domestic changes for the future of the U.S.-Japan relationship.

Speakers’ Profile:
Glen S. Fukushima is a Senior Fellow at CAP (Center for American Progress), a prominent Washington, D.C. think tank. Before assuming his current position in 2012, he was based for over 20 years in Tokyo, where he was a senior executive with one European and four American corporations and served as President of ACCJ (American Chamber of Commerce in Japan). Prior to his business career, he was Director for Japanese Affairs and Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan and China at USTR (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative). He was educated at Stanford, Keio, Harvard, and Tokyo University.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

In this special public seminar, Dr Ryosuke Nishida
(Ritsumeikan University) joins us to outline the rise of web-based election campaigns in Japan and to discuss the current debates surrounding this new form of electioneering. With reference to the recent Upper House and Tokyo gubernatorial elections, Nishida will also explain why Internet election campaigns have thus far failed to attract more young voters to the polls.

About the speaker: Professor Yashiro is former President of the Japan Center for Economic Research and a member of the Council of Economic and Fiscal Policy as well as a member of Regulatory Reform Council. After obtaining Ph.D in Economics from University of Maryland, he has held positions of first secretary of Japanese Delegation to OECD Paris, Senior Economist, Economic Research Institute, Economic Planing Agency, Japan-Ireland Desk Head, Department of Economic and Statistics, OECD, Senior Planner, Economic Planning Agency. He became Professor of Economics in Sophia University in 1992 and became Professor of Economics at the Iternational Christian University in 2005. Since
2011 he is a Visiting Professor of Economics at
International Christian University.
His major publications in English are:
Economic Effects of Aging in the United States and Japan (co-editor), Chicago University Press, 1997 Health Care Issues in the United States and Japan (co-editor), Chicago University Press, 2006 “Myths about Japanese Employment Practices”, Contemporary Japan, .No.2, 2011 “Japan’s New Special Zones for Regulatory Reform”
International Tax and Public Finance, 12, 561–574, 2005

About the talk: National Strategic Special Zones are designated by the national government and bold regulatory reforms and other measures will be comprehensively and intensively promoted for projects carried out jointly by the central government, local governments, and the private sector. All the six National Strategic Special zones are fully operational and now on, specific regulatory reforms will be continuously realized in the zones. Abe administration will carry out the further realization of reform of vested interests, while taking into consideration the proposals put forward by private-sector members in the roadmap.
In the presentation, we would like to hear Professor Yashiro's suggestions first-hand on additional regulatory reforms especially in employment, labour, medical and elderly care fields.

November 06, 2014

[SSJ: 8752] Representations and self-representations of queer(s) in East Asia: Conference and CfP

From: Barbara Holthus
Date: 2014/11/06

CALL FOR PAPERS
Conference: "Representations and Self-representations of Queer(s) in East Asia"
March 20 and 21, 2015, University of Vienna, Austria

Deadline for submissions: 15. November 2014 The CfP can be found online at:
http://www.oeh.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/femref/q
ueereastasia_eng.pdf

Dear Collegues,
we would like to invite you to submit a paper for the conference “Representations and Self-representations of
Queer(s) in East Asia”, taking place on 20th and 21st of March, 2015 at the University of Vienna, Austria.
The conference is organized by students of East Asian Studies in Vienna in cooperation with the LGBTI*Q* Department of the Austrian Students Union (ÖH) and supported by the Department of East Asian Studies/Japanese Studies and the Gender Research Office at the University of Vienna. We look forward to presentations from diverse fields of research such as East Asian Studies, Gender Studies, or Queer Theory.

CONFERENCE VISION

The coverage of ‘queer’ topics and their representations in popular culture, media, and the general public is changing in many East Asian regions.
The transformation in the representation of the ‘queer’
in traditional channels has been accompanied by a surge within the ‘new media’. While visibility enables networking among persons who identify with a queer lifestyle, it simultaneously establishes proscriptive standards and norms, producing a pressure to adapt.
Local and foreign scholars in Gender Studies, Sexuality Studies, and Queer Theory have analyzed diverse aspects of ‘representation’ (cf. McLelland und Mackie 2014).
Additionally, certain scholars have pointed out a perceived ‘western’ infl uence in form of activist practices (such as pride parades) or through the usage of the term ‘queer’ (cf. Shimizu 2007). With this conference we hope to encourage a critical examination of representations and self-representations of queer(s) in East Asia. We inquire after contemporary foreign depictions of queer people and queerness in East Asia and interrogate whether and how marginalized groups form, defi ne, and spread their own conceptions of ‘queerness’ using diff erent media and resources such as social media.

CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS MAY INCLUDE:

• The relationship between making or being made visible and making invisible • Queer and minorities, queer people in minorities • Queer self-representations and foreign depictions, e.g. representations of queers and queerness in literature, fi lm or television programs • Queer fandoms and reception of queer popular culture • etc.

We are especially looking forward to contributions that focus on inter*sexuality, trans*gender, asexuality or neo-sexuality, and take race and class into account.
Presentations concerning Queer Theory in East Asia that do not center on ‘representation’ will also be considered in the program planning.
We ask for an abstract of approximately 250-300 words with information about the focus of the presentation and the preferred format (e.g. talk, workshop, poster presentation etc.).

Speakers will receive an allowance to cover accommodation expenses and travel expenses (within Europe). A conference program including the contributions of conferences participants (activists and researchers) from Japan, (South) Korea, China, Taiwan or Hong Kong will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Speaker:
Jennifer Lind
Associate Professor in the Government department at Dartmouth College, and a Faculty Associate at the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies at Harvard University. Currently a Visiting Research Fellow in the Japan-U.S. Opinion Leaders Exchange Program at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo
Discussant:
Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
-----------

Dear friends, we are happy to invite you to a presentation by Professor Jennifer Lind of Dartmouth College on the state of the defense debate in Japan followed by a few comments from Robert Dujarric of Temple University Japan Campus and a discussion with the audience.

Speaker

Jennifer Lind is currently a Visiting Research Fellow in the Japan-U.S. Opinion Leaders Exchange Program at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo. She is an Associate Professor in the Government department at Dartmouth College, and a Faculty Associate at the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies at Harvard University. Professor Lind has previously worked as a consultant for RAND and for the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Lind's research focuses on the security relations of East Asia, and U.S. foreign policy toward the region. Her book, Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics (Cornell, 2008), explores how memory and apologies affect international reconciliation. She is currently working on several article projects about U.S.-China relations and the U.S. alliance system in East Asia, and a book about how great powers rise. Professor Lind has published her research in numerous academic journals, and writes for wider audiences in the Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times. For more information please visit

http://sites.dartmouth.edu/jlind/

Discussant
Robert Dujarric is Director, Institute of Contemporary
Asian Studies, Temple University Japan. He moved to
Tokyo in 2004 as a Council on Foreign Relations Hitachi Fellow in Japan. He has been with Temple University Japan Campus since 2007. He is a graduate of Harvard
College and holds an MBA from Yale University. For
more information please visit
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/icas/the-institute/staff/

[SSJ: 8750] Lunch-time lecture on the "New Japan-US Relations and Security in Asia" at the International House of Japan

The new guidelines for Japan-US defense cooperation are now under review and to be revised. How will this revision change the relationship between Japan and the United States? Dr. Jimbo will talk about the prospects for future Japan-US relations in the Asia-Pacific region, explaining the impact of territorial disputes in East Asia and the South China Sea on Japan.

In recent years, amidst a faltering economic climate, Japanese people have witnessed a proliferation of narratives of decline and diminishing hope. Social consequences of the economic downturn vary from withdrawal from the public sphere into the private domain and political apathy among the young, to the strengthening of revisionism and right wing rhetoric. By far the most widespread public reaction though seems to be a vague sense of disillusionment and hopelessness. While the economic and social situation warrants concern, the cross cultural perspective afforded by anthropology would indicate that people continue to hope and strive for better lives however dire the circumstances.

For this special issue we invite contributions that consider feelings, perceptions and narratives of hope and hopelessness, as well as examples of how new organizations or efforts have fostered renewed feelings of hope in contemporary Japanese society. Specific theoretical issues to explore may include the
following:

- Hope and temporality. Is hope primarily
future oriented? What is hope's relationship to the
past? When is hope merely a 'future nostalgia'
(Zournazi 2002) that serves as a tool of governments to manipulate the feelings of its subjects?

- Hope and agency. When does hope enable action,
and when does it promote passivity or reliance on something seen as an external
agency (cf. Crapanzano 2003)? To what extent can one foster hope?

- Hope and social change. Does a hopeful
attitude lead to passivity, thus contributing to the status quo, or does it allow for envisaging alternative futures?
Should hope be understood as a collective resource (cf. Braithwaite 2004; Lueck 2007)?

- Hope, knowledge, and creativity. Are older
categories of thought foreclosing the possibility for an emergence of hope, having become the very
'apparatus of hopelessness' (Graeber 2011)? Is hope primarily a form of 'readjustment of knowledge'
(Miyazaki 2006)?

Contributions should not exceed 8000 words, including references and appendices. For details see our submission guidelines at www.contemporary-japan.org/stylesheet.
For Inquiries and submission contact:
iza.kavedzija@anthro.ox.ac.uk Submission deadline: 31 March 2015; Publication: Spring 2016

(2) Invitation for Proposals for Special Issues We are currently inviting proposals for a special issue of Contemporary Japan to be published in spring 2017.
The submission deadline for the proposal is 31 March 2015. Special issue proposals should be submitted as a draft call for papers. The call for papers should have a similar format as the one in
(1) and should include:

i. A provisional title and theme of the special issue ii. The special issue's objective and how it relates to the existing literature iii. Examples of questions that would meet the objective of the special issue

Special issues must be open to any researcher working on the addressed topic and not be restricted to participants of specific workshops, symposia, etc., though such events may serve as a point of departure.
All papers will be subject to external peer-review.
Please note that editors of a special issue cannot author papers for that issue.

+++
Contemporary Japan is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research from all disciplines as they relate to present-day Japan or its recent historical development.
Manuscripts which cross disciplinary boundaries and raise larger issues of interest are also welcome. All submissions are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by established scholars in the field.
For more information please see our website at http://www.contemporary-japan.org/

The United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) is pleased to invite you to attend the seminar "Monitoring Impacts and Communicating Health Risks after Fukushima", to be co-organized with the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. This event will start at
10:00 AM on 11 November 2014 at UN University Headquarters in Shibuya.

The nuclear accident of March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has had wide-reaching environmental, social and economic impacts. The health risks posed by the accident have been among the key concerns both in Japan and other countries, and are expected to remain the focus of public attention for many years to come. By their very nature, issues related to radiation are both relatively "unusual" and highly technical for the general public. How to monitor effectively the health impacts and communicate associated health risks thus represent key questions that scientists, experts and practitioners are facing in the process of dealing with the legacy of the disaster.

This public seminar will explore challenges and lessons learned in the process of monitoring health impacts and communicating health risks after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi. It aims to promote open discussion incorporating perspectives from science, practitioners, civil society and the affected population.

The event will take the form of a panel discussion followed by interactive discussion with the audience.
Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

For more information and the event programme, please see the event announcement on the UNU-IAS website.
http://ias.unu.edu/en/events/upcoming/monitoring-impact
s-and-communicating-health-risks-after-fukushima.html

October 03, 2014

[SSJ: 8707] Symposium on National Security, Tokyo

From: Tom Blackwood
Date: 2014/10/03

Greetings. I'm writing to inform you of an upcoming symposium on national security with panelists Okamoto Yukio and Joseph Nye, sponsored by Harvard University's Asia Center and Tokyo International University, to be held at the Palace Hotel Tokyo on Tuesday, October 28th, from 13:30 to 16:00. Space is limited and preregistration is required. Registration will open Monday, 10/6, and close Friday, 10/10, and 250 people will be randomly selected to attend (ref. over 600 people registered for this event last year). Please visit http://www.tiu.ac.jp/n_news/2014/20140929.html# for more information, and to register.

--
Thomas Blackwood, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Tokyo International University

October 02, 2014

[SSJ: 8706] WSJA op-ed -- Abe Bows To The Farm Lobby

From: Richard Katz
Date: 2014/10/02

The Asia Wall Street Journal ran an oped by me in its Tuesday edition under the title "Shinzo Abe Bows to The Farm Lobby." For those with subs, it can be accessed
at:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/shinzo-abe-bows-to-the-f
arm-lobby-1412007781

or

http://tinyurl.com/nseun8s

Excerpts:

The U.S.-Japan cabinet-level talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact broke down on Wednesday largely because of Tokyo's refusal to sufficiently lower farm tariffs and other associated import barriers. The irony is that Japan, not America, has the most to gain from liberalizing food trade, as Japan's own reformers recognize.

Consider the costs of protecting farmers, most of whom are part-timers over the age of 60. Japanese consumers spend 13.7% of their total household budget on food, far more than the 6.3% spent by Americans, or even the 9.3% spent by Britons. If this share were reduced even to 11% by opening the food market to more competition, Japanese households would save 7.5 trillion yen ($72
billion) per year. To put that in perspective, the output of Japan's entire farm sector is only worth 5.4 trillion yen. The five "sacred" farm sectors that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resists liberalizing-rice, beef and pork, dairy, wheat and sugar-produce just 3.6 trillion yen, or 0.8% of Japan's gross domestic product.

[snip: discussion of the huge cost of farm subsidies, tax breaks, distortion of local allocation grants by skewing them to electorally pivotal rural prefectures, and land use laws that fetter GDP by creating an artificial scarcity of land]

The conditions are ripe for a determined prime minister to override the powerful farm lobby. The LDP's opposition is weak, as are Mr. Abe's leadership challengers within his own party. He could even pick up votes from opposition representatives who support the TPP. Import liberalization and reform of land taxes and land-use laws would raise government revenues immediately and stimulate GDP, boosting the goals of Abenomics. If Mr. Abe will not act on structural reform when he has all these advantages, one has to question if he will ever act at all.

We will hold an international symposium. If you wish to make a presentation or become a discussant, there are some slots available.
Please let me know.
Date: 30 October - 1 November
Venue: Academic Exchange Room, Osaka University (Minoh
Campus)
http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/access/index.html#minoh
(Access map) http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/access/minoh
(Campus map) #3(3rd Floor)

Common Theme: Legacies of World War II (Part 1) Tentative Program: http://sugita.us/program10302014

September 03, 2014

[SSJ: 8672] Part-time Position in Academic Writing/Presentation

From: Yuko Kasuya
Date: 2014/09/03

***Part-time Position in Academic Writing/Presentation at Keio University (Mita Campus)*** Keio University's Department of Political Science is looking for a part-time lecturer who can teach a course on academic writing, and a course on academic presentation at the graduate level for the next school year (April 2015-March 2016). These two courses can be taught during the same semester (either in the Spring or in the Fall, or spread into two semesters). We are especially interested in candidates who are native speakers of English. A Ph.D. in political science or a related discipline is required. If interested, please contact Yuko Kasuya (ykasuya[at]a7.keio.ac.jp) for details by September 12th (Friday).

OSAKA
As an aftermath of the 3/11 nuclear accident in 2011, Japan shut down all of its 48 nuclear reactors and they remain inactive at present.
Recently two reactors at Satsuma-Sendai in Kagoshima Prefecture got a nod of approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority indicating the reactors have met the current, far more stringent, safety regulations.

However, there are other hurdles left to clear in addition to meeting these safety regulations. First, the public has a period of time in which to submit comments on the re-activation activities. After that, local and prefectural approval must be garnered prior to re-activation.
This approval process for the two reactors in Satsuma-Sendai should not be rough sailing because the mayor of the Satsuma-Sendai city and the Kagoshima governor are reportedly inclined to support re-activation.

August 11, 2014

Nice to have the SSJ Forum back, and I hope everyone is getting through the summer ok. After a session talking about polling in Japan, the ISS social science dissertation workshop is back on its normal track of discussing research design issues as well as substance with a young social scientist.

Crystal Pryor will present on August 21.* She is working on a political science PhD at the University of Washington with a dissertation on "The Strategy of Strategic Trade Controls: Balancing Economics, Security, and Politics." It is about how four governments (Japan, UK, US, Germany) approach multilateral negotiations to control the exports of sensitive advanced technologies.

Crystal points out that countries must first weigh their own economic, security, and political interests before proposing multilateral export controls on a given technology. Her puzzle is why similar countries take different stances on controlling the same technologies (her main cases are encryption, CCD cameras, machine tools, and carbon fiber). She suggests that governments worry more about the risk of a specific technology in the hands of a specific importer than about the technology's "inherent dangerousness."

In her presentation, Crystal will tell us how the Japanese process works and how it may be changing. An interesting aspect is the prominence of METI and the lack of involvement of the Defense Agency/Ministry. In fact, the Japanese case has gotten more interesting with the recent relaxation of the ban on exporting weapons.

Guests are welcome, and as usual, I appreciate your letting me know if you are coming though it isn't necessary. I am also interested in hearing from social scientists (all disciplines) who might be interested in presenting this fall.

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at 12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond. The Institute of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is room 533 on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

August 06, 2014

[SSJ: 8654] *Notice* Temporary Shutdown due to the repair work at the ISS.

From: SSJ-Forum Moderator
Date: 2014/08/06

SSJ-Forum will shut down from August 7 to August 11 due to the major repair work at the Institute of Social Science, as announced in the previous post. Messages sent to the Forum during this off-line period will be posted after August 12.

Thank you for your kind understanding and continuing support for the forum.

[SSJ: 8653] REMINDER: Temporary Network Shutdown at the Institute of Social Science

From: ISS webmaster
Date: 2014/08/06

The entire network of Institute of Social Science will be shut down from 13 p.m. (JST) on Aug. 7, 2014 to 5 p.m. (JST) on Aug. 11, 2014 due to major repair work at the main building, which will upgrade its earthquake safety.

All of the network services at the ISS will be unavailable during this period, which include the webpages, the email accounts of all staff members and organizations, online services at SSJDA, and SSJ-Forum.

August 01, 2014

[SSJ: 8652] Temporary Network Shutdown at the Institute of Social Science

From: ISS webmaster
Date: 2014/08/01

The entire network of Institute of Social Science will be shut down from 13 p.m. (JST) on Aug. 7, 2014 to 5 p.m. (JST) on Aug. 11, 2014 due to major repair work at the main building, which will upgrade its earthquake safety.

All of the network services at the ISS will be unavailable during this period, which include the webpages, the email accounts of all staff members and organizations, online services at SSJDA, and SSJ-Forum.

[SSJ: 8651] Event at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

From: Kawabata, Eiji
Date: 2014/08/01

Dear SSJ-Forum Members,
I will give a talk on privacy regulation in Australia and Japan on August 6 at the Wilson Center for International Scholars. If you happen to be in Washington, DC on that day, I hope you will come and see the beautiful Wilson Center.

Eiji

Privacy Vs Democracy: The Challenge for Japan and Australia August 06, 2014 Protecting privacy is as critical as information sharing. In a democracy, protecting information goes hand-in-hand with ensuring individual liberty, and the rapid development of digital technology has made the protection of privacy even more important. One key challenge for democratic governance is formulating policies to ensure information privacy protection. In contrast to the United States and Western Europe, where privacy regulation started in the early 1970s, privacy regulation began to develop in Japan and Australia only in the 1980s, but each country has slowly developed comprehensive privacy regulation since then. Japan scholar and Minnesota State University professor Eiji Kawabata will examine the development of privacy policy in Japan and Australia, and assess policies that would be effective in balancing privacy protection and ensuring national security.
Location:
4th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center
Directions to the Wilson
Center

*
Eiji
Kawabata
a> // Japan Scholar Associate Professor of Government
and Director of the International Relations Program, Minnesota State University, Mankato

July 31, 2014

[SSJ: 8650] Symposium reminder - To See Once More the Stars

From: David Leheny
Date: 2014/07/31

Dear SSJ-Forum Colleagues,

I wanted to send a reminder about an upcoming symposium held at the I-House in Tokyo, from 1-6 p.m. on August 8. The editors (Daisuke Naito, Ryan Sayre, Heather Swanson, and Satsuki Takahashi) of the book _To See Once More the Stars: Living in a Post-Fukushima World_ collected over 80 short essays about the Fukushima disaster, written by scholars, artists, activists, evacuees, and other observers. All of the book's essays are published in both English and Japanese, and the symposium, like the kaleidoscopic book, aims to engage Japanese and international audiences simultaneously on the social, cultural, personal, and political implications of the disaster. Sensing that the book on this grave topic might be light on Star Wars references, I titled my own essay Ewokification, but I had the good fortune to be able to translate about twenty of the others, including several whose authors will be presenting at the upcoming symposium. The symposium which will also include several distinguished commentators on the volume and the project. Among the speakers will be:

The program will primarily be in Japanese, though several of the speakers will present in English (with translation), and audience members are free to ask questions or participate in the discussion in either language.

The symposium is free, but the organizers ask that people RSVP (with name and affiliation) to:
symposium0808@gmail.com.

July 29, 2014

We are pleased to announce the 3rd GRIPS Student Conference, to be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2014.
This year's theme is "Toward Sustainable Development:
Challenges for Global Leaders".

The conference is open to all GRIPS and non-GRIPS students, researchers, and professionals. Participation is free of charge.

Conference Objectives
GRIPS has been hosting the GRIPS Student Conference since 2012. The Conference brings together a diverse group of students, researchers, and professionals from various disciplines and backgrounds to share ideas and research findings on political, social, and economic challenges facing the world today and to discuss how these challenges can be addressed for sustainable development. Our goal is threefold: to promote a scholarly exchange of ideas, to set new research directions, and to encourage rigorous inter-disciplinary research and collaboration.

This year, we focus on the changes and continuity in economic and political research and reflect on ways in which global leaders can learn from historical analogies. We also take an in-depth look at the role of emerging economies in sustainable development and the challenges facing them today.

The conference is open to all GRIPS and non-GRIPS students, researchers, and professionals, and it provides an excellent opportunity for young as well as established researchers to share expertise in important policy areas, contribute to existing scholarship, and expand their network of colleagues and collaborators.

Call for Presentations
We invite both empirical and conceptual papers on any issue in economics, political science, and social policy that is relevant to the conference theme. Below are some broad areas in which we invite presentations.

Presenters will have 25 minutes to present and answer questions. The official language of the conference is English.

Guidelines for Registration and Abstract Submission If you would like to present a paper at the 3rd GRIPS Student Conference, we kindly ask that you pre-register online (http://goo.gl/Xcpce1) or send an email to studentconference@grips.ac.jp by Friday, August 8, 2014, with your tentative presentation title.

An abstract of 200-300 words should be submitted by Monday, August 11, 2014. All abstracts must include a title, author(s)' name(s), affiliation, and e-mail, and
3-5 keywords. The abstract should describe the theme of the paper and the theory and research method used, and give a summary of the main conclusions.

Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will be notified by e-mail before Monday, August 18, 2014.

Presenter whose papers have been accepted should send their presentation slides to the Organizing Committee by e-mail no later than Friday, August 29, 2014.

Important Dates
Preregistration (including title), Friday, August 8,
2014
Submission of abstracts for review, Monday, August 11,
2014
Authors are notified of their status, Monday, August 18, 2014 Submission of presentation slides, Friday, August 29,
2014

Correspondence
Inquiries, abstracts and presentation slides should be e-mailed to studentconference@grips.ac.jp

The Student Conference is part of the GRIPS Summer Program. In the Summer Program we offer a host of activities ranging from special lectures, seminars, workshops, field trips, cultural activities and a student conference. Many of these activities are open to the public and we invite you to check our Summer Program website
(http://www.grips.ac.jp/en/events/20140710-2563/) for further details.

A research project undertaken by the United Nations University and Waseda University has led to the recent publication of two edited books: "Human Security and Natural Disasters", and "Human Security and Japan's Triple Disaster".

This event brings together the editors of the two books as well as a number of chapter contributors from the second volume, who have examined the political, social and economic consequences of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident that struck Japan on 11 March 2011.

There will be brief presentations by the speakers, followed by open discussion between the panel and audience members. Afterwards there will be a reception with light food and drinks.

More than four decades ago, Richard Easterlin observed the famous paradox that more economic growth does not lead to further increases in subjective well-being.
Since the formulation of the Easterlin paradox, it has become common knowledge that material wealth alone does not make people happy. What does make people happy?
What should governments and societies do to further the quest for happiness? These questions are still hotly debated by scholars, at the United Nations and in many government commissions. These discussions happen against the backdrop of the declining influence of ideologies, political parties, unions or churches in today’s highly diversified societies. Therefore, it is worth examining how political organizations, ideologies and religions have promised to improve the well-being of individuals and how these promises and the policies derived thereof, are perceived by the people.
This DIJ event brings together five distinguished experts to discuss well-being between promise and reality.

Tomonori Yoshizaki, Director, Security Studies Department, The National Institute for Defense Studies
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
--------------
Dear friends: We would like to invite you to a discussion and lunch at Temple University Japan Campus on 14 July 2014 at 11:15 with Professor Tomonori Yoshizaki, Director, Security Studies Department, National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) in Tokyo.
This is part of a symposium supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Japan.

Following Professor Yoshizaki’s lecture and a Q&A session we will have a bento lunch (please bring your own lunch box) and adjourn at 13:30.

*Speaker *

Professor Yoshizaki is one of the senior members of NIDS. He is a graduate of Keio University, was a Visiting Fellow at King’s College in London and Hudson Institute in Washington DC. His area of expertise includes Alliance Management, European Security and NATO, Japan's Peace Operations, Conflict Resolution,
Peacebuilding. He is the author of numerous articles
in Japanese and English.

About the speaker: Dr. Hatta has served as a member of various government committees including the Building Code Council of the Ministry of Construction and the Energy and Resource Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He was a Chairman of the Housing and Land Council of the Ministry of Construction, Acting Chairman of Regulatory Reform of the Cabinet Office, and a member of the Committee for the Reform of Electricity System, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He is currently a member of the Council of National Strategic Special Zones, and Chairman of the Working Group for National Strategic Special Zones, the Cabinet Office. Dr. Hatta received B.A. in Economics from International Christian University, Tokyo in 1966 and Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1973. Previously he held positions of Assistant Professor at Ohio State University, and Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor at the Johns Hopkins University. Upon returning to Japan in 1986, he became Professor of Osaka University, Tokyo University, and International Christian University. He served as the President of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) until 2011. He has been Professor Emeritus of Osaka University since 2001. In addition to his academic post, Dr. Hatta was President of the Japanese Economic Association. He has written and edited widely on micro economics, urban economics, and Japanese economy, including How to Go About the System Reform of the Electricity Market in Japan, published by Nikkei in 2012.

About the talk: Structural reforms for Japan's economy is an important issue in the implementation of the third arrow of Abenomics growth strategy. In the meeting of the Council on National Strategic Special Zones in May 2014, Prime Minister Abe said Japan commends the swift and active developments in the six National Strategic Special Zones as the front runners of economic revitalization and will swiftly achieve regulatory reforms. PM Abe says Japan can break through the solid rock of vested interests. In the presentation, we would like to hear first-hand Professor Hatta's view on the outlook for regulatory reforms in labour market, medical technology, agriculture and sightseeing in the special economic zones.

June 21, 2014

[SSJ: 8589] Re: "Voodoo Abenomics" in Foreign Affairs

From: Paul Midford
Date: 2014/06/21

Congratulations to Richard Katz for his timely and incisive piece on Abenomics.

While I think Richard's conclusion that Abenomics'
third arrow of structural reform has been a major disappointment is right on target, there is one important aspect of Abe's structural reform agenda that has been generally overlooked: structural reform of the electricity sector.

Last year the Abe administration enacted a law through the Diet that moves to separate electricity generation from the grid that delivers it to customers, thereby breaking up Japan's regional electricity monopolies.
The new law will also give residential customers the ability to choose their electricity supplier based on price and the type of power (e.g. fossil fuels, nuclear, or renewable energy such as solar and wind) by 2018. This reform will introduce greater competition to Japan's electricity sector, facilitate the growth of domestic renewable energy sources, and prevent a repeat of the too big to fail dilemma the Japanese government faced with TEPCO. If there should be another major nuclear accident in the future, the bankruptcy of the plant operator will not therefore take the grid down with them; the operator will just be one of a number of competing producers. This reform could also help Japan to realize a more developed national grid, since regional power monopolies have tended to limit grid connections with other regional monopolists. This will not solve Japan's east-west power divide of 50 vs 60 hz, but it might encourage more investment in conversion capacity. It might also encourage the supply of electricity from Korea and Russia, which could give customers more options for lower priced power and would provide greater supply security. One interesting early result is that some regional power monopolies are moving to compete in each other's'
traditional fiefs.

It's worth noting, however, that Abe's early achievement of structure reform in the electricity sector has is actually based on a policy he inherited from Kan and Noda. METI has also consistently supported this reform, reflecting a turn away from being pro-electric utility and pro-nuclear policies that it pursued in the past.

Finally, in a related shameless plug, I want to note that these and many related issues are analyzed in a forthcoming book I am co-editing with Palgrave: The Political Economy of Renewable Energy and Energy
Security: Common Challenges and National Responses in Japan, China and Northern Europe

This volume should be out by late July, and you can pre-order with Amazon:

June 20, 2014

[SSJ: 8587] [Temple ICAS Event] 14 JULY 2014: Is a war between great powers possible with Christopher Coker

From: ICAS
Date: 2014/06/20

Is a war between great powers possible
with Christopher Coker
----------------
Date: Monday, July 14, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
----------------
Dear friends: We would like to invite you to an evening lecture with Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, on "Is war between great powers still possible?"
This is part of a symposium supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Japan and organized by Andreas Herberg-Rothe.

Speaker
Professor Coker is the author of Warrior geeks: how 21st century technology is changing the way we fight and think about war, The collision of modern and post-modern war, and numerous other books and articles.
His forthcoming
The Improbable War: China, the US and the continuing logic of Great Power conflict (Hurst) will be published later in 2014.
http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchandexpertise/experts/profi
le.aspx?KeyValue=c.coker%40lse.ac.uk

June 19, 2014

[SSJ: 8586] Call for papers from The Japanese political Economy: "Diversity and Institutional Change in the Japanese Economy and Society"

From: Lechevalier Sebastien
Date: 2014/06/19

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to invit you to submit your contribution to The Japanese political Economy for a special issue on "Diversity and Institutional Change in the Japanese Economy and Society".

The Japanese political economic system has been perceived as highly homogeneous (although segmented) and stable, and deeply rooted in a specific cultural and social environment. However, its trajectory for the past 30 years has contradicted this vision with a gradual but nonetheless significant institutional change and increasing diversity at the micro level (firms and individuals).

For this special issue we invite papers that deal with the following topics on Japanese economy and society:

. Evolution of organizational diversity and performance dispersion . Evaluation of institutional change, its causes, mechanisms, and outcomes . Links between organizational diversity and institutional change . Role of the marginalized in social change . Decentralization, liberalization, disorganization and coordination . Interest groups, social dynamics, coalitions, conflicts, and politics . Life courses, gender roles, welfare state, and political economy . Diversity and its impact on inequalities . The Japanese trajectory in historical perspective and international comparison

The deadline for submissions to be reviewed and considered for inclusion in this special issue is September 1, 2014.

All submissions must be original work that is not under consideration by another journal. We will not consider submissions that reproduce figures or tables or substantial portions of text that have been previously published. Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://editorialexpress.com/jpe.
Manuscripts should be limited to 12,000 words, including text, tables, figures, notes, and references.
Font size must be 12 point for all parts of the manuscript, and all body text should be double-spaced.
Please include an abstract limited to 150 words.

The Japanese Political Economy (JPE) aims to publish high-quality, original articles that explore the many facets and interactions of Japan's domestic and international political economy. The journal will feature a broad range of scholarship that contributes both theoretically and empirically to the field.
Submitted articles undergo a double-blind peer review process that is overseen by the journal's editorial board. Please visit the website:
http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/results1.asp?ACR=JES

For any questions about this special issue submissions, please contact A. Maria Toyoda of Villanova University (amaria.toyoda@villanova.edu), editor of the journal, and Sebastien Lechevalier (sebastien.lechevalier@ehess.fr), guest editor of this special issue.

[SSJ: 8585] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, July 2: Japan 's Single Women and the Disembedding Economic System

From: Carola Hommerich
Date: 2014/06/19

You are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, July 2, 18.30:

Kumiko Endo, The New School for Social Research, New York

JAPAN'S SINGLE WOMEN AND THE DISEMBEDDING ECONOMIC SYSTEM

In the midst of its trilemma of declining fertility, hyper-aging society, and decreasing population, Japan has recently been witness to a cultural phenomenon called konkatsu, or "marriage hunting activities", whereby an increasing number of single women (and men) proactively utilize events and networks to widen their communicative sphere and gain access to prospective spouses. On the other hand, casual gatherings of solidarity called joshikai ("girls-only gathering"), where unmarried and childless female friends gather for cathartic companionship, have become so conspicuous that a quick search for this term on a Japanese online search engine produces 948 million hits in 0.19 seconds.

It is my hypothesis that the konkatsu and joshikai public spheres are manifestations of the unwed, childless women's agency within Japan's contemporary sociopolitical, economic, and labor structures that are at once demanding and dismissive of these women. The new subjectivities apparent in such agency hint at an emerging shift in Japan's cultural identity. Through analyses of government statistics, ethnographic research in konkatsu and joshikai sites, and forty in-depth interviews with unmarried women aged 25 to 34 who predominantly utilize both of these sites, I would like to shed light upon this micro-macro link that sits behind Japan's current demographic crisis.

KUMIKO ENDO is a PhD Candidate at The New School for Social Research, New Yo rk. She holds an MA from the same institution. Since 2008, she is lecturer a t Hofstra's Department of Religion.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C.
Hommerich.

All are welcome to attend, but registration
(hommerich@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.
German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ) Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F,
7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094, Phone:
03-3222-5077 For a map please refer to www.dijtokyo.org

--
Dr. Carola Hommerich
Senior Research Fellow
Head of German-Japanese Relations and Comparisons Section German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ)

The successful candidate's research focus will be on the culture and history of modern Japan (since 1868) with a research focus in at least two of the following
research areas: literary studies, cultural studies,
and history of ideas. She or he will be well familiar with recent theoretical approaches in the field and have profound knowledge of research methods. Candidates will have international teaching experience and an excellent research and publication record. Successful candidates also are expected to have experience with acquiring funding for, and carrying out externally funded research projects. Qualified candidates must have made excellent academic achievements and be proficient in the Japanese language. Successful candidates will also be familiar with the key discourses and debates in the field of Gender Studies.

The appointee will be expected to conduct research and teaching in the field of Japanese Studies with a focus on the culture and history of modern Japan (since 1868). The successful applicant is expected to participate in interdisciplinary research projects and cooperate with colleagues of the Graduate School of East Asian Studies, the Center for Area Studies and the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies.
She or he will also be expected to participate actively in the creation of new cooperative research projects.

Applications quoting the reference code W3 Japanologie should include a CV, copies of all certificates of academic qualification, a list of publications, evidence of teaching experience (such as syllabi and evaluations of courses previously taught) as well as of involvement in ongoing or planned research endeavors, joint research projects and externally funded projects.
If applicable, candidates should also include information on existing or planned industrial co-operations, inventions/patents and spin-offs.

All materials, including a private postal and/or e-mail address must be received no later than July 3rd,
2014 at

Application guidelines and general information on the appointment procedure as well as requirements for professorships at Freie Universität Berlin can be found at www.fu-berlin.de/praesidialamt. For additional details, please visit www.fu-berlin.de, www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/oas/japanologie,
www.fsgs.fu-berlin.de and www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de.

June 17, 2014

[SSJ: 8582] Sophia University ICC Lecture announcement (July 10)

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2014

Abe Kôbô and the Politics of Fantasy

Darcy Gauthier (University of Toronto)

July 10, 2014
17:00-18:30
Room L-912, Sophia University Library 9F

Throughout the 1950s, Abe Kôbô expressed a sustained interest in ghosts and ghost stories, producing several plays, short stories, films, as well as non-fiction essays concerned with exploring the potentialities of this figure. During this time, however, Abe also advocated for realism in literature, writing for example in his essay “Towards a New Realism” (Atarashii riarizumu no tame ni) that “we [writers] must first of all aim to understand reality.” How are we to integrate these two topics, fantasy and realism––ones which are, on the surface at least, seemingly opposed? I would like to argue that there is indeed a coherent method behind Abe’s simultaneous treatment of the two. Out of his ghost stories, Abe developed a conception of realism that differed from current conventions of literary realism––the discourse of empirical veracity constructed around I-novels, documentary fiction, records of the everyday, etc.––and was also radically opposed to the spirit of 1950s Japanese realpolitik––its normalization of (cold-war) crisis justifying a “realistic” politics of capitalist growth and imperialism. Thus, his ghost stories constituted a new form of "anti-realist" historical realism attuned to disavowed, invisible, or ghostly structures underlying postwar Japanese society. This presentation will focus on two of Abe’s ghost stories from the 1950s, Record of a Transformation (Henkei no kiroku) and The Ghost is Here (Yûrei wa koko ni iru), in order to explore the political nature of Abe’s fantasy writing as well the fantastic nature of contemporaneous politics, especially in terms of “spectral” Capitalist economies and the “haunting” disavowal-and-repetition of imperialism.

Darcy Gauthier is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto Centre for Comparative Literature, a 2013-2014 Japan Foundation Fellow, and a visiting scholar at Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture. His research focuses on the politics of fantasy in post-war Japan, with a particular interest in ghost narratives and related theories of haunting and spectrality.

This documentary explores the role of Buddhism in care for the 3/11 bereaved and the dead based on attention to the everyday lives of Buddhist professionals in the disaster zone. Shot from March to December 2011 with a focus on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, the film captures Buddhist temples and local communities in their struggles to rebuild. By contextualizing the triple disaster within recent rapid transformations in Buddhism and Japan’s enduring tradition of ancestor veneration, Souls of Zen reflects on the complex role of Buddhism in a society shaped by natural disasters, religious pluralism, and demographic change.

soulsofzen . com

Tim Graf is a Ph.D. candidate at Heidelberg University (Religious Studies), and a Ph.D. candidate and Research Associate at Tohoku University (School of Law). He worked at the Collaborative Research Center Ritual Dynamics at Heidelberg University and conducted fieldwork on Zen Buddhism as a JSPS fellow at the University of Tokyo. His research interests focus on transformations of Buddhism in contemporary Japan and more broadly deal with the interplay of religious practice and modern social change.

June 16, 2014

[SSJ: 8580] International Seminar on the Living Standard and Housing of Elderly - Comparing Australia and Japan

From: Reiko Hayashi
Date: 2014/06/16

Dear all

National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS) is pleased to present the following seminar. Those interested in poverty, elderly, housing and comparative study of Japan and Australia are welcome to attend the seminar.

(*) The Seminar is a part of “Research on Poverty Studies” funded by the Ministry of Education Scientific Research Grant. The organizers acknowledge financial support from the Australia - Japan Foundation of the Australian Government.

International Seminar on the Living Standard and Housing of Elderly - Comparing Australia and Japan

Date: Friday July 11th, 2014 13:00 - 17:00

Venue: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS), Tokyo
(http://www.ipss.go.jp/pr-ad/e/info-e/map-e.html)

Organized by: IPSS and Social Security Research Center
(SPRC) of University of New South Wales (Australia)

4 "The centrality of housing tenure: Further perspectives on the lives of older public and private renters in Australia"
Alan MORRIS (Associate Professor, The University of Technology, Sydney) and Yuvisthi NAIDOO (Research Associate, SPRC)

June 11, 2014

[SSJ: 8584] "Voodoo Abenomics" in Foreign Affairs

From: Richard Katz
Date: 2014/06/19

"Foreign Affairs" just published an essay by me entitled "Voodoo Abenomics." (I tried for "Broken Arrows," but they figured more people would understand their title). It's at http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141480/richard-k
atz/voodoo-abenomics
It's free to subscribers and non-subscribers can also get it for free it they register at (that gives them three free articles).

The thrust of the piece is that none of the three arrows work without the other two. But Abe has only one
arrow: monetary stimulus. The second arrow-formerly called fiscal stimulus and now called bold and flexible fiscal policy-is just a dart and is now flying in the wrong direction. I.e. Abe's foot on the brake (tax
hikes) is much heavier than hit foot on the fiscal accelerator (spending). And third arrow-pro-growth structural reform-is a violation of the truth in advertising laws. We've seen reforms in the past in Japan-from clean-up of NPLs, reform of the large-scale retail store law, and telecom reform to name a few-and nothing Abe is doing is anything like those.

This is especially true in the latest "third arrow"
release. Having government-controlled pension funds purchase more stocks-in a market that is no higher than it was almost 30 years ago-has more to do with boosting stock prices and thereby Abe's approval rating, than with helping pensioners. The same is true of corporate income tax cuts; firms are hoarding lots of cash which they choose not to invest in Japan. Giving them more cash won't create more investment. In stark contrast, Abe dropped one measure recommended by his advisory council that would have actually helped: abolishing Japan Agriculture, the farm cooperative lobby that blocks reform and trade opening, and uses its exemption from the Anti-Monopoly Act to fix markets and block competition.

The sad fact is that Abe's heart does not beat to the rhythm of reform and revival. Instead, Abenomics is a means to an end: to gain enough popular support to pursue the goals that really move him: security and history issues.

[SSJ: 8578] Shaken Workshop June 26: Social construction of national security terms

From: John Campbell
Date: 2014/06/11

AT our workshop this month, "Being a Security Fact in Post-Cold War Japan." Michael Edward Walsh, an exchange researcher at Waseda University, will present on June 26* He is an American who is completing a PhD at SOAS in Politics and International Relations.

Michael argues that terms like security threat, armed attack, irregular militias, maritime piracy, armed insurgency, cyber warfare, and terrorism look like objective descriptions of reality, but on closer examination they are based on quite subjective notions.
He traces the social construction of such terms through case studies of the Japanese security discourses following the end of the Cold War. His theoretical inspirations come from the philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, political philosophy, and international relations literatures.

Guests are welcome. If convenient, let me know you are coming at jccamp@umich.edu

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at 12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond. The Institute of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is room 533 on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しください。
===============

Overview

Relations between China and Russia have never been better. However, the solidity and future of their “global strategic partnership” is questionable. In spite common interests on the global scene, there is a lack of strategic trust and subjects of frustration are numerous, from trade to energy and military cooperation.

In this context, the Ukraine crisis led to a difficult debate in China between fascination for a “strong Russia”, as a possible model for China in Asia, and a growing uneasiness regarding Putin’s agenda for the future.

Speaker

Valerie Niquet received her PhD in political science, MA in Chinese and BA in Japanese from the University of Paris. She heads the Asia department at FRS (Fondation pour la recherche stratégique). She was formerly the Director of Asia Centre IFRI (Institut Français des Relations Internationales) where she developed new research programs on China, India and Japan. Valerie Niquet is a member of the scientific committee of the Conseil supérieur de la formation et de la recherche stratégique (CSFRS).

She has published extensively on strategic issues, international relations and defence policies in Asia as well as on the evolutions of the Chinese political system. She is the translator of two major works of the Chinese military classics (the Art of war by Sun Zi and the Military Treaty by Sun Bin). Her latest publications include “Confu-talk: the Use of Confucian Concepts in Contemporary Chinese Foreign Policy”, in Anne-Marie Brady, China’s Thought Management, Routledge, 2011, Chine-Japon, l’affrontement, Paris, Perrin, 2006.

June 09, 2014

It would be our dream to make Osaka U. as a kind of "hub" for international research on the Asia-Pacific studies (social science).
In the age of Internet, we still place great emphasis on face-to-face deep discussions. Consequently, I would like to apply for funding to invite scholars outside Japan who are working on any aspect of the Asia-Pacific studies (social science). Successful candidates will be invited to Osaka University (Osaka Japan) for a week or so before the end of this school year (before 31 March
2015) to hold seminars, lectures, and possibly symposium in Osaka.

We will cover your international airfare (economy) and accommodations here in Osaka. Everything will be conducted in English.
All proposals will be considered as they come. If you are interested, please send the followings to:
sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp 1. brief CV 2. topic(s) 3.
abstract

Please keep in mind that the implementation of this project depends on availability of funding.

[SSJ: 8534] Lecture on Thursday May 29, 18.30 h

Three Myths about the Japanese Red Army: What you Think you Know is Probably Wrong!

Public understandings about the Japanese Red Army (Nihon Sekigun) are based largely on information promulgated by the Japanese government and circulated widely by mass media during the nearly three decades that its members were beyond reach in the Middle East.
The participants have contributed to the myth-making, both by their public writings and by what they did not reveal. Some pieces of contradictory information have been available for a long time, but many blanks were filled in with widely circulated myths. Even scholars who studied the group have perpetuated mistaken views based on the limited information available.
The formal dissolution of Nihon Sekigun and a set of new trials of returnees from 2000 to 2010 have now made it possible to construct a rather different picture of the group. The dissolution freed members and former members to talk about internal aspects of the organization that they had kept secret for decades. In a new book in progress, Dr. Steinhoff is examining the recent material in light of her four decades of research on the various branches of the original Sekigunha. Her research includes prison interviews, participant observation of trial sessions and the activities of trial support groups, and extensive reading of the group’s writings in Japanese. Her talk will debunk several widely believed myths about the Japanese Red Army and analyze the origins and implications of these myths.

Patricia Steinhoff is Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii. She holds a BA in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of Michigan
(1963) and a PhD in sociology from Harvard University
(1969) and has taught at the University of Hawaii since 1968. Her primary research interest is social movements, civil society, and radical left groups in Japan. She has written over ninety articles and book chapters, and is the author or editor of twenty books.
Her latest edited book is Going to Court to Change
Japan: Social Movements and the Law, which is forthcoming this summer from the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. Her most recent article is “Memories of New Left Protest” Contemporary Japan, Journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies 25:2, Fall 2013.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at 06.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free; please register at:
forum@dijtokyo.org or
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

May 03, 2014

[SSJ: 8533] Call for Abstract Submission: JSA-ASEAN 2014 in Bangkok

From: Kitti Prasirtsuk
Date: 2014/05/03

Dear friends,

JSA-ASEAN 2014: State and Non-state Actors in Japan-ASEAN Relations and Beyond

The 4th JSA-ASEAN International Conference will be organized by the Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Thammasat University, under the plenary theme "State and Non-state Actors in Japan-ASEAN Relations and Beyond". During the 40 years of relationship between Japan and ASEAN, the roles of states have been crucial in economic and social development. In the past decades, the relationship between Japan and ASEAN goes beyond the role of state. Roles of non-state are, for example, the roles of private sectors, such as Japanese FDI, in the process of trade and investment integration have been increasingly important to the ASEAN members, roles of NGOs in social and political activities, natural disaster management, and other educational and cultural exchange programs. Therefore, the key theme of this conference "State and Non-state Actors in Japan-ASEAN Relations and Beyond", will be addressed in the plenary session, featuring a prominent keynote speaker and panelists. The topics of panels and papers presented at this conference, by no mean, need to be confined to the plenary theme. All other topics related to Japan is welcome.

Please find more information in
https://sites.google.com/site/jsaasean2014entry/.

Deadline for abstract submission is 31 May 2014.

I would appreciate if you could also circulate this to your colleagues and grad students.

"My presentation considers the divergent efforts of Judith Butler, Alain Badiou, and Slavoj Žižek to arrive at a postmetaphysical conception of ethics. Butler approaches this task through her ethics of precarity, which posits vulnerability as a foundation for a generalizable ethics of relationality in the Levinasian vein. Badiou and Žižek, in turn, work from a more Lacanian perspective, attempting to leap directly from the singular to the universal by bypassing the particular. After considering the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, I argue that posthumanist theory needs to reconsider its resistance to a priori normative limits, for without such limits, ethics too easily becomes either a celebration of masochism (as in Butler) or a celebration of courage (as in Badiou and Žižek). I draw on feminist philosopher Amy Allen's commentary on the "historical a priori" to argue that a priori norms do not need to be metaphysical in order to be ethically compelling and politically useful."

Mari Ruti is Professor of Critical Theory at the University of Toronto, where she teaches contemporary theory, psychoanalysis, continental philosophy, and feminist and queer theory. She is the author of five
books: Reinventing the Soul: Posthumanist Theory and Psychic Life (2006); A World of Fragile Things:
Psychoanalysis and the Art of Living (2009); The Summons of Love (2011); The Singularity of Being: Lacan and the Immortal Within (2012); The Call of Character:
Living a Life Worth Living (2013).

April 30, 2014

[SSJ: 8530] CJG announcements--Alexy on divorce, May 8

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by

Allison Alexy
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Virginia

Constructing Mutuality: Family Law Process and Divorce in Contemporary Japan

DATE AND PLACE
Thursday, May 8 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
On the face of it, the legal process of getting divorced in contemporary Japan looks both simple and disconnected from the legal system. Since the war, the vast majority of divorces have occurred with one simple form. To get divorced, both spouses sign this form, stamp it with their legal name stamps (inkan), and submit it to a government office. With this form, spouses are acknowledging both that they want to be divorced and that they have already agreed to the terms of the divorce. As revealed by my ethnographic research, such relative bureaucratic ease stands in sharp contrast to the debates, negotiations, and conflicts that occur as people work to accomplish a divorce. Because legal precedents require that both spouses agree to divorce, many protracted negotiations occur as a spouse who wants to divorce attempts to convince the other to agree to it, often by promising material property, making no financial demands, or offering other bribes. Although many of these negotiations occur in divorces that are eventually legally registered as “mutual,” that eventual mutuality masks substantial private conflict and negotiation that are themselves intimately, and constantly, shaped by legal categories and ideologies. In this presentation, I argue that the standard process of getting a divorce, and the legal structures that underlie it, reflect ideological constructions of families as coherent social units even at the moment they are dividing. In practical terms, this means that the Family Law Court is unlikely to attempt to resolve, or aid in the resolution of, extant problems within in any given family.

SPEAKER
Allison Alexy is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia. She holds a BA from the University of Chicago and PhD from Yale University.
This presentation draws from her book manuscript Divorce and the Romance of Independence in Contemporary Japan. With Richard Ronald, she co-edited Home and Family in Japan: Continuity and Transformation (Routledge 2010). This year, she is based at Waseda University and supported by the Abe Fellowship while she conducts research on abductions and child custody disputes involving Japanese citizens.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, please visit our website:
http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/
or contact
Gregory W. NOBLE (noble[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

April 27, 2014

[SSJ: 8529] An International Workshop on Japan's Anime Industry: Attainments and Prospects

From: Nissim Otmazgin
Date: 2014/04/27

We are delighted to announce that an international workshop on the globalization of Japan's anime industry will be held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on May 21, 2014. The workshop brings together scholars and anime industry personnel to discuss the complex relationship between anime's innovative process and its marketing and consumption at home and abroad. The conference is open to all but preregistration is needed.

8:30-9:00 - Gathering and registration

9:00-9:10 - Opening Remarks

Dr. Nissim Otmazgin, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

9:10-10:30 - The Future of Japanese Anime at Home and Abroad

Chair: Helena Grinshpun, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Naohiro Shichijo, the National Institute for Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), "Challenges and Opportunities for Japanese Animation".

--
New book by Nissim Otmazgin, Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia, now out by University of Hawai'i Press!
See the book here:
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9036-9780824836948.aspx

Religion, Identity and Human Security attempts to articulate a 'post-secular' approach to Human Security suited to a globalizing and increasingly post-Western world. It is divided into two sections. The first section provides the theoretical framework for re-conceptualizing Critical Human Security along post-secular lines. The second attempts to apply this framework to three sites of insecurity: the EU, South Asia and Japan. It will primarily be of interest to students of International Relations, Critical Security Studies and Religion and Politics.

Contents
Part I: Reconceptualizing Human Security in a Post-Secular Age, 1. Globalization and Identity After the Financial Crisis, 2. Provincializing Post-Secularism, 3. Re-conceptualizing Security:
Towards a Critical Human Security Paradigm? 4.
De-Secularizing Human Security, Part II: Sites of Human Insecurity, 5. Emancipating Zoe: The Securitization of the Veil in France, 6. Sarva Dharma Sambhava: Religion and Human In/Security in South Asia 7. Tabunka Kyōsei ?
Ethno-Nationalism and Human Insecurity in Japan,
Conclusion: To be Human is not to be resilient.
Reviews
This excellent book is not only an original contribution to critical human security studies, but more broadly, an outstanding remapping of postsecular thinking in International Relations.Prof. Mustapha Kamal Pasha, Aberystwyth University, UK.
Through an erudite analysis of recent debates about the veil in France, ethno-religious tensions in South Asia, and ethno-nationalism in Japan, Giorgio Shani defends a ‘post-secular’ approach to human security that openly embraces cultural diversity and religious difference.
This lucid and wide-ranging book will interest students of globalisation, identity politics, post-colonialism, and critical security studies’ Prof. Andrew Linklater, Aberystwyth University, UK.
Link

In conjunction with the International Sociology Association World Congress (http://www.isa-sociology.org/congress2014/), we are pleased to announce the pre-ISA Conference on Social Movements, scheduled in Yokohama, Japan, on July 13, 2014. Together with RC47 and RC48 of the ISA, the conference is designed to be a transnational event wherein students, researchers, and scholars studying social movements will convene from around the world to meet, share research interests, and engage in lively discussions.

With rapid socioeconomic and cultural
transformations in the last few decades, we now face a set of new academic challenges.
Academic gatherings, such as conferences, meetings, and forums, have increasingly been held, functioning as a venue to discuss issues common to us all. Interestingly, no academic meetings of a global magnitude have been held so far that pay exclusive attention to social movements.
Social movements vary, with diverse issues, motives, strategies, resources and surrounding environments, across countries and continents. The pre-ISA Conference on Social Movements has been conceived of as, and is designed to become, a platform where social movement researchers in the world gather, meet, present their own work, and exchange.

Following the morning plenary session, we will have a session on social movements in Asian/East Asian countries. In social movement studies, much attention has been paid to social movements and collective action in the European and American continents. In this session, we will introduce social movements in Asian/East Asian countries. This will widen the landscape of social movements, and renew our interest in the social movement studies.
The following session is designed to be an occasion for socializing. It is a space wherein students and scholars of social movements come together to introduce respective research activities. It will help

us develop our research network.

The conference is scheduled on July 13 to synchronize with the opening of the XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology. It will share the venue with the ISA World Congress. We invite fellow researchers doing research on social movements. The conference aims to offer social movement scholars from around the world a chance for networking that will extend into

n Who Can Attend
Scholars, researchers, and students interested in and doing research on social movements.

n Requirements:
Power Point Slides for Self-Introduction Roundtable Session (15:15-17:00) intends to be a “getting to know each other” space.

Each of the participants will have 3 minutes to present herself and her work (4 slides per person).
The time is too short to present a synthesis of one’s research, but it is enough to connect researchers from different continents with similar research interest or perspectives.

Each participant is required to prepare a four-slide power point presentation for self-introduction. Self-introduction slides include who I am (1-page demographic information), what I do, and what I have done, and what research interests I have and what I want to do in the future, together with the contact.

researcher, etc.), (5) Keywords of your research:
up to 5 words, and (6) A short message (if desired).

The conference organizing committee will collect the self-introduction slides from all participants, and compile them into a booklet.

The deadline for submission is May 30, 2014, 24:00 (JST).
Please send self-introductory power point slides to the conference office Japan at:
socialmovementconference@gmail.com

Please note:
(1) The power point slides have to be sent in .

ppt format, with the title “Last name - First name.ppt”
and in an e-mail with the subject heading of “pre-ISA Social movements Conference”.

(2) The office will not take power point data with
5 slides and more.

(3) We will compile a booklet in the printout format,

rather than keeping all the personal information in a digital format, simply because it will be safer.
All the power-point slides sent to the office will completely be discarded once the compilation work is done

n Visa Information

Please visit the official website of XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology at:
http://www.isa-sociology.org/congress2014/visa.htm

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies
(WOJUSS) would like to invite you to a seminar
on May 12, 2014. Please see the details below.
Please RSVP at info-wojuss@list.waseda.jp or
visit our event website at
http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/.

[Abstract]
The centerpiece of East Asian financial regionalism has
been the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), an emergency
liquidity mechanism created by the ASEAN+3. Enforcement
under CMI has relied on the "IMF link" -- release of
funds is predicated on crisis countries' initiating
negotiations with the International Monetary Fund as a
means of reducing moral hazard, enforcing
conditionality, and diverting blame from the leading
creditors, Japan and China. The global financial crisis
of 2008-10 and the eurozone crisis that followed have
inspired important changes meant to address CMI's
economic gaps, including accelerated adoption of "CMI
Multilateralization" (CMIM), the creation of a new
surveillance unit (ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research
Organization, or AMRO), and the establishment of a new
Precautionary Line. These developments appear to weaken
the IMF link. However, while the moves appear to
demonstrate a more confident, autonomous regionalism
and a relative devaluation of the U.S.-dominated global
financial institutions, this paper argues that they
have the unintended consequence of unearthing anew the
underlying politics of divided leadership and mutual
suspicion. CMIM is now threatened by the renewed
potential for internal divisions, even as new
initiatives at bilateral and global levels further
erode its raison d'etre.

[Short Biography]
William W. Grimes is Professor of International
Relations and Political Science at Boston University,
where he has taught since 1996. He was formerly chair
of the Department of International Relations and
founding director of the Boston University Center for
the Study of Asia from 2008-10. He is the author of
Currency and Contest in East Asia: The Great Power
Politics of Financial Regionalism (Cornell University
Press, 2009), which was awarded the 2010 Masayoshi
Ohira Memorial Award as well as Unmaking the Japanese
Miracle: Macroeconomic Politics, 1985-2000 (Cornell
University Press, 2001) and co-editor (with Ulrike
Schaede) of Japan's Managed Globalization: Adapting to
the 21st Century (M.E. Sharpe, 2002). He has published
a variety of articles and book chapters on topics
including Japanese macroeconomic policymaking, the
impacts of financial globalization on Japan, East Asian
financial regionalism, and Japan's relations with the
United States and East Asia.

[Commentators]
Shujiro Urata
Professor, Faculty of International Research and
Education,
Waseda University

Takashi Terada
Professor, Faculty of Law, Doshisha University

[Moderator]
Hidetoshi Nakamura
Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Science and
Economics,
Waseda University

[Language]
English

Please send any inquiries about the event to
info-wojuss@list.waseda.jp.

[SSJ: 8525] CfP: Social Policies and Well-being in Later Life

From: Florian Kohlbacher
Date: 2014/04/25

Calls for papers for a special session and a special issue on "Social Policies and Well-being in Later Life"

1) special session on Social Policies and Well-being in Later Life at the bi-annual meeting of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS 2014) conference in Berlin, 15-18 September, 2014:
http://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/pdf/Call_ISQOLS_Policy_
and_Happy_Ageing_Society.pdf

2) special issue on Social Policies and Well-being in Later Life in the Journal of Positive Psychology:
www.tandf.co.uk/journals/cfp/rposcfp.pdf

This special session/ issue adopts a cross-national perspective and thus seeks contributions from a variety of countries with ageing populations. Comparative studies are particularly welcome, but research focusing on one particular nation is also within the scope of this special session/ issue.

Obviously, Japan as the country with the most aged population in the world, lends itself particularly well to research this topic.

Panel: Positioning Risk and Making Social Policies in Contemporary Japan 1. Social Policies of Accountability in the Era of Neoliberal Risk, William Bradley, Ryukoku University 2. Risky Quest of Internationalizing Japan's Universities, Mayumi Ishikawa, Osaka University 3. Risks of Reforming Regular Employment in Japan, Scott North, Osaka University 4. Risk, the Fear of Risk, and the Risk of the Fear of
Risk: the bureaucratic response to radiation in contemporary Fukushima, Tom Gill, Meiji Gakuin University Keynote Speech: A Nation at Risk? Globalization, nationalism, and the future of Japan, Koichi Nakano, Sophia University For further details, including full abstracts of the papers, see the symposium website.
http://www.philipseaton.net/british-association-for-jap
anese-studies-japan-branch/bajs-symposium-24-5-may-2014
/

25 May (Sunday), 10:00 - 12:00, Professional
Development Workshop for PhD Students
Professional Development Workshop for PhD Students on
"Building a Career within the Japanese University
System" (coordinated by Philip Seaton and Robert
Aspinall)
Notes regarding the PhD workshop (maximum participants,
15):
1) Priority is given to PhD students who are members of
BAJS or who are conducting PhD research under the
supervision of BAJS members.
2) Travel bursaries (not necessarily the full cost of
participation) are available for BAJS student members
(being a student member is free. People who are not
members should join before 24 May in order to receive
the bursary).
3) Recipients of travel bursaries must attend both the
symposium (24th) and the workshop (25th). Attendance at
only the Workshop is possible, but bursaries cannot be
provided for workshop participation only.
4) While attendance at the symposium on the 24th is
open to the public, attendance at the Professional
Development Workshop is by invitation only. Please
contact Philip Seaton in advance if you want to attend.

If you have any questions or want to attend the event,
please contact the event organizers: Robert Aspinall
(Shiga University, symposium attendance, Robert
Aspinall ) and Philip
Seaton (BAJS Japan Branch inquiries and PhD workshop
inquiries).
For inquiries about BAJS membership, please visit first
the official BAJS website:
http://www.bajs.org.uk/membership/

April 22, 2014

[SSJ: 8522] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, May 14: The Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement - Mobilization Processes after Fukushima

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/04/22

You are cordially invited to the next
DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, May 14, 18.30:

Anna Wiemann, University of Hamburg:

The Japanese Anti-Nuclear Movement - Mobilization Processes after Fukushima

The nuclear accident in Fukushima in March 2011 triggered a new wave of social movement activism in Japan. The protests every Friday evening in front of the Prime Minister‘s residence (kantei) can be counted as one of the most visible activities of this movement.
The movement, however, cannot be reduced to street demonstrations. Less visible collective actions take place frequently, in the form of conferences, lectures, study groups, or parliamentarian briefings on energy and radiation related issues.

Literature on social movements (i.e. Gerhards/Rucht
1992) indicates that the meso-organizational level plays a decisive role in creating a common frame of meaning and in processes of coordinating such collective action. This presentation examines networks of old and new social movement organizations since 3.11. Based on extensive field work with mainly Tokyo-based groups, I apply qualitative network analysis to grasp the emergence and the dynamics of such networks as well as their relation to the actors’
strategic choices.

Anna Wiemann, PhD candidate at Hamburg University is currently a scholarship fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ). She holds a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Japanese Linguistics.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.
German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ) Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094, Phone: 03-3222-5077 For a map please refer to www.dijtokyo.org

April 18, 2014

[SSJ: 8518] Shaken Workshop April 24: War, Authoritarianism, and the Origins of the Japanese Welfare State

From: John Campbell
Date: 2014/04/18

The social science dissertation workshop meets next on Thursday April 24 to hear from Anna Skarpelis.* It is her second appearance at the workshop; she is now a PhD candidate in sociology at New York University and a Japan Foundation fellow at the ISS Todai. Her dissertation research is about the origins of welfare states, comparing Germany and Japan. The talk will focus mainly on how authoritarian governance, war mobilization, and economic regulation intersected to shape social policy development during the Japanese interwar and war periods (~1920's - 1945).

Most governments expand and centralize during authoritarian periods and in preparation of war. How does Japan's experience compare to that of other nations? And when war aims clashed with those of authoritarian government, how were these troubles resolved? Anna goes beyond traditional political science approaches by bringing together economic, historical and sociological theories (e.g. Hayek, Polanyi, Tilly, Foucault) to explore mechanisms of welfare state transformation.

Guests are always welcome at the workshop; if convenient please let me know you are coming (jccamp[at]umich.edu).

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at 12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond. The Institute of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is room 533 on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies
(WOJUSS) would like to invite you to a seminar on Apr 24, 2014. Please see the details below.
Please RSVP at info-wojuss@list.waseda.jp or visit our event website at http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/.

[Speaker]
Christopher William Hughes
Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences Head of Department, Politics and International Studies University of Warwick

[Abstract]
Japan has been regarded by all mainstream IR theories as a status quo power intent on pursuing an immobilist international strategy towards China characterised by hedging rather than any move to active balancing. This paper challenges these assumptions and asks whether Japan will, or indeed already is, moving towards active balancing. The paper does so by reinterpreting the very assumptions of those theoretical perspectives that predict hedging and by drawing on fresh empirical evidence. It argues that the conditions that are thought to encourage hedging behaviour -- the predictability of other states' intentions, the malleability of intentions through engagement, domestic preferences that obviate balancing, and a favourable offence-defence balance -- are now eroding in the case of Japan's strategy towards China. Japanese policy-makers in the last decade have an accelerating decline in their confidence to read China's intentions and to mould these, to the point that China is now regarded as a predominantly malign actor. Japan's own domestic regime change, paralleling that of China, has released Revisionist forces that favour balancing of China. Very significantly, Japan's eroding faith in its ability to maintain defensive superiority over China, either through its own internal capabilities or the US-Japan alliance. The consequence is that the evidence is now mounting of Japan shifting towards active 'soft'
and 'hard' balancing of China. The consequences of Japan's shifting strategy are yet as unclear. Japan may be moving towards a form of 'Resentful Realism' that does not bring a new equilibrium to regional security but is actually more destabilising and poses risk for China and the US, especially as Japan's own security intentions become more opaque.

[Short Biography]
Christopher W. Hughes (BA Oxford University; MA Rochester University; PhD Sheffield University) is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies, Chair of the Department of Politics and International Studies, and Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Warwick, UK. He was formerly Research Associate, University of Hiroshima; Asahi Shimbun Visiting Professor of Mass Media and Politics, University of Tokyo; and Edwin O.
Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University. His most recent book is Japan's Remilitarisation (2009). He is currently President of the British Association of Japanese Studies, and Joint Editor of The Pacific Review.

***********************************************
The nuclear accident in Fukushima in March 2011 triggered a new wave of social movement activism in Japan. The protests every Friday evening in front of the Prime Minister's residence
(kantei) can be counted as one of the most visible activities of this movement. But the movement cannot be reduced to street demonstrations.
Less visible collective actions frequently take place in the form of conferences, lectures, study groups or parliamentarian briefings on energy and radiation related issues.

This presentation focuses on questions such as:
What are the facilitating factors behind the collective action? Who are the organizers of such movement events and how are they connected amongst each other? How do they try to mobilize people to participate? Literature on social movements (Gerhards/Rucht 1992) indicates that the meso-organizational level plays a decisive role in processes of motivation and coordination for collective action. Based on extensive field work with mainly Tokyo-based social movement organizations (interviews, participant observation), this study uses qualitative network analysis to get an idea of how these SMOs organize and cooperate with each other since 3.11 and of how they provide an arena for individuals to participate in collective action.

Anna Wiemann is a PhD student at Hamburg University and currently a scholarship fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ). She holds a master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a bachelor's degree in Japanese Linguistics.

************************************************
************************************************
THE JAPAN FIELDWORK WORKSHOP
We are now in our 14th year, making us one of the longest running workshop of its kind in Tokyo. Our focus is on fieldwork-base research in anthropology, sociology, popular culture, political science, media studies and related fields.

The goal is to present work in progress in a critical and informal setting. So, rather than delivering that perfectly defensible 20 minute conference paper, you have a chance to present in a longer format, to discuss and explore the more unwieldy parts of your research. Of course, we will work to link theory and ethnography in productive ways, but also to share the methodological challenges of fieldwork with others currently in the field.

We are open to all scholars doing fieldwork but in order to keep numbers down, we periodically close this group.

In our closed format, we will usually pre-circulate papers, chapters or proposals for comment and discussion.

If you would like to become a regular member, or need information on presenting please contact me directly (dhslater@gmail.com).

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies Sophia University, Tokyo

Yasukuni Shrine is well known for the political controversies its presence has generated both within Japan and between Japan and its neighbors.
International critics fault the shine for symbolizing Japan's desire to remilitarize. Japanese critics argue that the shrine encouraged reckless militarism during the Asia-Pacific War. But what exactly was Yasukuni Shrine's role during that war? How could one shrine impart such significant and lasting influence throughout Japan and beyond? In my talk I follow one army private who was stationed in Northern China in 1933, only to be killed the following year. Through a reconstruction of the postmortem fate of his body and spirit – including his cremation and return of ashes back home, memorials in his hometown, and the lavish memorial service conducted at Yasukuni Shrine – I demonstrate the particular ways in which private grief for war death was institutionalized into a national experience. The experience of various events and rituals hosted by the shrine – whether directly at the Tokyo site or vicariously through media representations – functioned as a training ground for those involved to practice an acceptable brand of
grief: one that was coupled with pride and gratitude.
Modern media further reproduced and disseminated sounds and images from the shrine events to involve the entire nation in the institutionalization of grief.

Akiko Takenaka is an assistant professor of Japanese History at the University of Kentucky. She specializes in the social and cultural history of modern Japan with a research focus on memory and historiography of the Asia-Pacifi c War. She is the author of Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's Unending Postwar, f orthcoming from the University of Hawai'i Press. She is currently a Japan F oundation Fellow, affiliated with the University of Tokyo, working on her se cond book project on the influence of trauma on memories of the Asia-Pacific War.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Miki Aoyama-Olschina and Torsten Weber. All are welcome to attend, but registration (weber@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

April 11, 2014

[SSJ: 8508] Re: Female Labor Force Participation Rate

From: Earl Kinmonth
Date: 2014/04/11

Many thanks for this.

As for the 68% that PM Abe cited in his WSJ essay
(http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230
3759604579091680931293404)--not the 73% in the same piece that the JT used to lead us all on a wild goose chase--it covers the 25-54 age group that the OECD used for an international comparison. Click through from here (http://www.gender.go.jp/about_danjo/whitepaper/h25/zen
tai/html/honpen/b1_s02_01.html) to find the relevant cvs files (most conveniently http://www.gender.go.jp/about_danjo/whitepaper/h25/zent
ai/html/zuhyo/zuhyo01-02-02.html).The 15-64 age group is usually used in Japan, for which the correspondent figure in February 2014 was 64.9% according to my arithmetic.

The 15-64 cohort is widely used. It is unrealistic for contemporary advanced economies. 25-54 or 25-64 is much more realistic.

The 73% (likewise the rest of the numbers in the table) in Kathy Matsui's article refers to the ratio of female/male labor force participation, which theoretically could be higher than 100%.

I had guessed that this was the case, but I did not think even Kathy Matsui could be dumb enough to think that this was a good indicator. Since it is (female labor force rate) / (male labor force rate), you could "Improve" the stats for women by discouraging guys from working, clearly a dumb policy in general and dumber still in the context of a shrinking work force.

There are countries in the World Economic Forum stats with ratios over 100%. It looks like one way to achieve this is to have a large fraction of the males dead from HIV.

April 10, 2014

In 2007, with its future development concept International Network University, Freie Universität Berlin succeeded in winning a major government funding award in the German Excellence Initiative. This award acknowledges special academic achievements, giving the title University of Excellence. Freie Universität Berlin was able to maintain its excellence status in 2012, one among only a few other select universities to do so. The second phase of this program focuses on the expansion of international and regional networks and the advancement of junior researchers supported by the Career Path Model.

To meet these goals, Freie Universität Berlin is setting up a Dahlem International Network Professorship (DINP).

The successful applicant will be required to cover the respective area in research and teaching.

Center for Area Studies, with the Department of Political and Social Sciences and the Department of History and Cultural Studies Professorship in Governance of Global Inequalities

The appointee will have a PhD in the field of social sciences (preferably in social and cultural anthropology, but also political science or sociology) or in the field of area studies with a proven focus on social sciences. She or he will have excellent knowledge of qualitative research methods, especially ethnographic methods. The successful candidate will have substantial experience in field research focusing on transregional aspects. She or he will have knowledge of at least one non-European language. Experience in teaching internationally and excellent research activities are required as well as experience with acquiring funding for, and carrying out, sponsored research.

The appointee is expected to participate in the development of a research area in the field of Governance of Global Inequalities at the Center for Area Studies. She or he will be prepared to cooperate with colleagues of the Center’s respective research alliances. Furthermore, candidates will be prepared to participate in the teaching of bachelor’s and master’s courses, and, if necessary, in the respective doctoral programs as well as in the courses of the Center for Area Studies.

Applications should include a CV, copies of all certificates of academic qualification, a list of publications, evidence of teaching competence (such as courses previously taught) as well as of involvement in ongoing and future research endeavours, joint research projects and externally funded projects. If applicable, applications should also include information on industrial co-operations, inventions/patents and spin-offs. All materials, including a private postal and/or e-mail address and quoting the respective reference code must be received no later than May 12th,
2014 at the departments named above.

Appointment requirements are governed by Article 100 of the Berlin Higher Education Act (Berliner Hochschulgesetz). Application guidelines and general information on the appointment procedure as well as requirements for professorships at Freie Universität Berlin can be found at www.fu-berlin.de/praesidialamt.
Please note that in most departments, the language of instruction is primarily German, but some teaching may be conducted in English. Non-German-speaking appointees are expected to acquire sufficient language skills to be able to teach in German within a reasonable time frame, unless stated otherwise.

[SSJ: 8504] SSU Forum with Professor Seiichi Kondo

From: Kiichi Fujiwara
Date: 2014/04/10

Dear All,

Security Studies Unit of the Policy Alternatives Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, will hold the next SSU Forum with Professor Seiichi Kondo, former commissioner of the Agency of Cultural Affairs, on perceptions in foreign policy.

Dr. Paderanga will come to share his perspective on examination of the impact of economic policies after the Second World War.

Speakers’ Profile:
Dr. Paderanga is a professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics. He was until recently the Secretary for Socioeconomic Planning and the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from July 2010- April 2012. He had held the same cabinet post from 1990 to
1992 and has been a member of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Philippines from 1990 to 1992 and from
1993 to 1999. He was also the Chairman of the Philippine Social Science Council (1999-2001) and President of the Philippine Economics Society (1998-1999). As one of the leading economist of the country, he has been conducting a series of major researches mainly on macro economy, publishing many influential books and papers. Dr. Paderanga is currently assuming chairmanship of DAP, which has been mandated with executive development for the Government for the past forty years.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

[SSJ: 8502] new working paper on survival and mortality during 3/11 disaster

From: Daniel Aldrich
Date: 2014/04/10

Paper Title: The Physical and Social Determinants of Mortality in the 3.11 Tsunami by Daniel P. Aldrich and Yasuyuki Sawada

Abstract:
The human consequences of the 3.11 tsunami were not distributed equally across the municipalities of the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. Instead, the mortality rate from the massive wave varied tremendously from zero to close to ten percent of the local residential population. What accounts for this variation remains a critical question for researchers and policy makers alike. This paper uses a new, sui generis data set including all villages, towns, and cities on the Pacific Ocean side of the Tohoku region to untangle the factors connected to mortality during the disaster. With data on demographic, geophysical, infrastructure, social capital, and political conditions for 133 municipalities, we find that tsunami height, stocks of social capital, and demographic conditions strongly influenced mortality rates. Given the high probability of future large scale catastrophes, these findings have important policy implications for disaster mitigation policies in Japan and abroad.

April 08, 2014

The Meiji Institute for Global Affairs (MIGA) is hosting a symposium entitled “The Future of the
Asia-Pacific: Uncertain Harmony?” April 23 (Wed) between 13:00－17:30 (registration from 12:30~) at the Global Hall, 1st Floor Global Front, Surugadai Campus, Meiji University. The symposium features Ian Bremmer, president of political risk advisory Eurasia Group and author of bestsellers “The J Curve” and “G-Zero”, Yoriko Kawaguchi, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, and other distinguished speakers. Simultaneous translation will be provided. Please check the following link for detail, and click through to
register:

April 05, 2014

[SSJ: 8497] Female Labor Force Participation Rate

From: Earl Kinmonth
Date: 2014/04/05

A just published article on women and work in the Japan Times contains the following paragraph.

Japan's female labor participation rate is 73 percent, according to a report last year by Kathy Matsui, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chief Japan strategist and the author of reports on "Womenomics" that have been cited by Abe. That compares with a high of 96 percent in Finland, and 85 percent in the United States, according to Matsui.

I can find nothing that appears to be a report "last year" (2013) and I cannot find female labor force participation data to match what it is asserted in the paragraph. I've looked at US Bureau of Labor Statistics, World Bank, and OECD data. All give much lower numbers for the countries cited. OECD data shows only a small difference between Japan and the US.
Numerous news reports say the US rate is going down, the Japanese rate is going up. Government sources put the employment rate for women in Finland at 65% with the long run secular trend as one of decline.

Does anyone have any idea where these numbers come from?

Given that labor force participation rate is usually defined as the ratio of those in employment or seeking employment to the total population in the 16-64 age cohort, a rate of 96% seems improbably high for any country where a large fraction of secondary education graduates go on to higher education.

Indeed, one would expect female participation rates to drop as a larger fraction of women go on to higher education because that would mean that an increasing fraction of the 16 through early 20s cohort would not be seeking work or in employment.

At the last EU-Japan Summit, Prime Minister Abe and the leader of the EU called for further efforts to unlock the potential of EU-Japan Science and technology cooperation. With the EU's Horizon2020 programme, there are new opportunities for international cooperation. Japan is a powerhouse of innovation and a global industrial player. Why is international collaboration in research becoming such an important element for innovation?

Prof Matsumoto, Executive Vice President of Tokyo University will talk about these needs while Prof Karlsson, Vice President for Global Academic Relations of Elsevier will give some figures from scientific co-publication. On the occasion of the visit by the Director responsible for international co-operation in the field of science, technology and innovation from the European Commission, we also have the honour to welcome Maria Cristina Russo who will introduce the EU's new "Horizon2020" programme as the most open research collaboration programme in the world. From an industrial point of view, is collaboration not too sensitive? What can you gain through collaboration?
This seminar will also invite Japanese participants to speak about their experience and offer first-hand insight into the multi-lateral collaboration scheme. Explanations will also be given on how to receive support in participating in the programme by the National Contact Point in Japan and EURAXESS.

About the speaker: After serving several appointments in Japan's foreign service, specializing in international trade policy issues, Professor Watanabe has now brought those skills and experience to the senior academic post he has filled at Keio University since 2005.

Prof. Watanabe’s distinguished career has featured significant engagement in all the major bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations in which Japan has been involved in the past two decades. This included the role of policy advisor to relevant Ministers, and postings to Japan's diplomatic missions in Brussels and Geneva. He was Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from 2002-2004 and served as Chief Negotiator for the Japan-Mexico Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Working Party on Russia’s Accession to the WTO. He was Special Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2004. He has been a member of the Task Force on Japan-India Economic Partnership, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2006.

Prof. Watanabe obtained his BA and MA and was PhD candidate in International Relations at Sophia University, Tokyo. He also studied at the College of Europe in Bruges under Belgian Government Scholarship. He is the author of a number of publications on GATT/ WTO and trade and economic partnership agreements. His most recent book on the TPP (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement) has been ranked one of the top-ten best- selling books on economics in December, 2011 in Tokyo.

About the talk: Promotion of free trade is one of the most important agenda in the third arrow of Abenomics. EU and Japan has agreed to start Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiation in March 2014.

EU is the largest investor to Japan and is the second largest destination for Japanese investment. EU-Japan EPA will create further business opportunities for both parties. In the presentation we will hear Professor Watanabe's view on the outlook for Japan's bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations to create further economic growth. Don't miss the excellent opportunity to hearing his first-hand talk.

April 02, 2014

[SSJ: 8493] Contemporary Japan: Call for Papers

From: Marga Dinkel
Date: 2014/04/02

Contemporary Japan (CJ) is the biannual journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ) published by de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.
We are currently calling for papers for the autumn 2015 issue. Articles should be submitted by 31 October 2014.
For submission details see contemporary-japan.org.

Contemporary Japan publishes original research from all disciplines as they relate to present-day Japan or its recent historical development.
Manuscripts which cross disciplinary boundaries and raise larger issues of interest are also welcome. All submissions are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by established scholars in the field.

The following points set CJ apart from other peer-reviewed journals on Japan:

(1) CJ is open to all kinds of scientific methods in all academic disciplines, including both qualitative and quantitative research.

(2) CJ promotes the publication of recent empirical findings and fresh theoretical perspectives into Japan-related topics. Therefore, CJ also welcomes preliminary empirical results as well as innovative theoretical approaches, given that their contribution to the field of research and their place in the relevant literature is thoroughly presented.

(3) CJ maintains a professional but fast review process that guarantees a timely publication after acceptance.

(4) Papers can also be submitted in Japanese or German and will be reviewed purely for content. Accepted articles will be translated into English free of charge, given that (a) the material is original research which has not been published in either language yet, and (b) the author demonstrates a familiarity with the international literature in the field.

(5) All issues of CJ are available in open access, meaning that, apart from the hardcopy version, articles can be read and downloaded free of charge online.

Martyn Smith
(School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London)

A 'MAD' age: War, Student Protest and Consumer Culture in 1960s Japan

In the late 1960s, student protests in various countries dominated much of the media debate over national and international politics. While the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia pushed for serious and overtly Cold War ideological goals, in Japan, France and the United States the protests of the mid-60s complicated notions of a postwar consensus on the freedom of the individual and economic growth as a national goal. In postwar Japan the gradual emergence of a social structure geared towards producing rational, bureaucratic workers to fuel high-speed economic growth faced a backlash as young, middle-class students began to analyse and criticise their own role in the political and economic system. In this context, the quest for individual subjectivity and the position of Japan in the international politics of the Cold War were brought together in large-scale, violent opposition to the Vietnam War. In this talk I will examine the ways in which the written media worked to undermine the important political issues raised by the student protests and the anti-war movement by incorporating them into consumer culture. By juxtaposing articles in magazines such as Fujin Kôron and those such as Heibon Punch aimed at the students themselves, I examine how popular magazines driven by the growth of a consumer society helped to frame protest within Cold War discourse as it emerged in the 1950s and 1960s.

Martyn Smith is a Senior Teaching Fellow in history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He studied European history and politics before recently completing his PhD in Japanese History at SOAS and is interested in postwar Japanese history, the history of the Cold War and consumerism, postwar East and Southeast Asia and theories of nation and nationalism.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Miki Aoyama-Olschina and Torsten Weber. All are welcome to attend, but registration (weber@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US
Studies(WOJUSS) would like to invite you to a seminar on Apr 24, 2014. Please see the details below. Please RSVP at info-wojuss@list.waseda.jp or visit our event website at http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/.

[Speaker]
Christopher William Hughes
Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences Head of Department, Politics and International Studies University of Warwick

[Abstract]
Japan has been regarded by all mainstream IR theories as a status quo power intent on pursuing an immobilist international strategy towards China characterised by hedging rather than any move to active balancing. This paper challenges these assumptions and asks whether Japan will, or indeed already is, moving towards active balancing. The paper does so by reinterpreting the very assumptions of those theoretical perspectives that predict hedging and by drawing on fresh empirical evidence. It argues that the conditions that are thought to encourage hedging behaviour -- the predictability of other states' intentions, the malleability of intentions through engagement, domestic preferences that obviate balancing, and a favourable offence-defence balance -- are now eroding in the case of Japan's strategy towards China. Japanese policy-makers in the last decade have an accelerating decline in their confidence to read China's intentions and to mould these, to the point that China is now regarded as a predominantly malign actor. Japan's own domestic regime change, paralleling that of China, has released Revisionist forces that favour balancing of China. Very significantly, Japan's eroding faith in its ability to maintain defensive superiority over China, either through its own internal capabilities or the US-Japan alliance. The consequence is that the evidence is now mounting of Japan shifting towards active 'soft'
and 'hard' balancing of China. The consequences of Japan's shifting strategy are yet as unclear. Japan may be moving towards a form of 'Resentful Realism' that does not bring a new equilibrium to regional security but is actually more destabilising and poses risk for China and the US, especially as Japan's own security intentions become more opaque.

[Short Biography]
Christopher W. Hughes (BA Oxford University; MA Rochester University; PhD Sheffield University) is Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies, Chair of the Department of Politics and International Studies, and Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the University of Warwick, UK. He was formerly Research Associate, University of Hiroshima; Asahi Shimbun Visiting Professor of Mass Media and Politics, University of Tokyo; and Edwin O.
Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University. His most recent book is Japan's Remilitarisation (2009). He is currently President of the British Association of Japanese Studies, and Joint Editor of The Pacific Review.

***********************************************
The nuclear accident in Fukushima in March 2011 triggered a new wave of social movement activism in Japan. The protests every Friday evening in front of the Prime Minister's residence
(kantei) can be counted as one of the most visible activities of this movement. But the movement cannot be reduced to street demonstrations.
Less visible collective actions frequently take place in the form of conferences, lectures, study groups or parliamentarian briefings on energy and radiation related issues.

This presentation focuses on questions such as:
What are the facilitating factors behind the collective action? Who are the organizers of such movement events and how are they connected amongst each other? How do they try to mobilize people to participate? Literature on social movements (Gerhards/Rucht 1992) indicates that the meso-organizational level plays a decisive role in processes of motivation and coordination for collective action. Based on extensive field work with mainly Tokyo-based social movement organizations (interviews, participant observation), this study uses qualitative network analysis to get an idea of how these SMOs organize and cooperate with each other since 3.11 and of how they provide an arena for individuals to participate in collective action.

Anna Wiemann is a PhD student at Hamburg University and currently a scholarship fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ). She holds a master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a bachelor's degree in Japanese Linguistics.

************************************************
************************************************
THE JAPAN FIELDWORK WORKSHOP
We are now in our 14th year, making us one of the longest running workshop of its kind in Tokyo. Our focus is on fieldwork-base research in anthropology, sociology, popular culture, political science, media studies and related fields.

The goal is to present work in progress in a critical and informal setting. So, rather than delivering that perfectly defensible 20 minute conference paper, you have a chance to present in a longer format, to discuss and explore the more unwieldy parts of your research.
Of course, we will work to link theory and ethnography in productive ways, but also to share the methodological challenges of fieldwork with others currently in the field.

We are open to all scholars doing fieldwork but in order to keep numbers down, we periodically close this group. In our closed format, we will usually pre-circulate papers, chapters or proposals for comment and discussion.

If you would like to become a regular member, or need information on presenting please contact me directly (dhslater[at]gmail.com).

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies Sophia University, Tokyo

March 28, 2014

[SSJ: 8488] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, April 2: Japan's Official Development Assistance: Strategies in Changing National and Global Contexts

From: Florian Kohlbacher
Date: 2014/03/28

DIJ Business & Economics Study Group on April 14

We would like to invite you to the next meeting of the DIJ Business & Economics Study Group of the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ).

It will take place on

Monday, April 14th, 2014, 12:30-13:30 (ATTENTION: NEW TIME SLOT)

at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.
(For a map refer to http://www.dijtokyo.org/access).

Our speaker will be

N. Sue Bruning, I.H. Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba

She will offer a presentation on:
"Global Performance Reviews and the Challenge of Multiple Role Expectations and Firm Strategic
Objectives: Lessons from Japan"

Performance evaluations and expatriate assignments serve fundamental strategic purposes for organizations.
Alignment issues are paramount for firms in their quest to develop the dynamic capabilities needed in the human resource area. These strategic objectives pose significant and challenging tasks for human resource and other managers in the global environment. For example, two recent studies, one by Bruning, Bebenroth and Pascha (2011) and Tungli and Peiperl (2009) found that the perspective of the respondent (HR managers at home office in the Tungli & Peiperl study and expats and local managers in the Bruning et al. (2011) study) led to a different evaluation of functions that expats were expected to perform in their foreign location. In other words there was significant disagreement about the roles that expats should perform while on assignment. The results of the Bruning et al. (2011) study of expatriates working in Japan will provide the basic empirical backdrop of this presentation on different role expectations and the challenge of developing reliable and valid global performance review systems of employees on expatriate assignments in different global locations. These data also reaffirm the challenges that face managers in developing dynamic human resource capabilities and aligning those capabilities with the organizations strategic goals.
Current research challenges in the area of global performance review systems will be explored and will include discussion of reasons why Japan presents a good context in which to examine global performance review systems.

N. Sue Bruning, Ph.D. is a Professor of Business Administration at the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba in Canada.
Her teaching and research interests span a number of organizational behaviour areas with current research projects ongoing in the areas of health and safety climate; behavioural integrity and organizational change; global staffing strategies; workplace aggression; HRM practices in SME's and organizational performance; and personality factors related to expatriate effectiveness. She generally categorizes her research interests as studies on various aspects of work contexts, in particular management processes that are related to healthy organizations with a focus on individual outcomes. Research design strategies have included quasi experimental designs, mixed methods, qualitative research and longitudinal survey designs.
Her research has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Management and a number of other journals.

The presentation will be given in English.The study group will be held as a brown bag seminar. Feel free to bring your own lunch and drinks.

Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register by April 11th with kohlbacher[at]dijtokyo.org

March 24, 2014

[SSJ: 8488] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, April 2: Japan's Official Development Assistance: Strategies in Changing National and Global Contexts

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/03/24

You are cordially invited to the next
DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, April 2, 18.30:

Raymond Yamamoto, University of Hamburg:

Japan's Official Development Assistance: Strategies in Changing National and Global Contexts In the 1990s, Japan became the world`s largest donor of Official Development Assistance (ODA). Only decades before, after World War II, Japan had still been a recipient of ODA. Japan`s own contribution to ODA begins with the war reparations the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951 obliged the country to pay. This was an important step towards normalizing the relations with neighboring countries after World War II. Along with the economic recovery of Japan, however, the motivation for ODA spending changed and it was, now, expanded in order to explore new markets in Asia. Furthermore, it served as a resource diplomacy tool after the Oil Crisis in 1973 and became an important pillar of the country`s comprehensive security strategy. Emerging as a major global power, Japan contributed increasingly to international humanitarian assistance to underline the importance of her international status.

Yet, despite its successful usage as a foreign policy tool, there has been a clear backward trend of ODA spending since 1997. How can this sudden change be explained? This talk attempts to answer this question approaching it from three perspectives, which correspond to the leading theories of International Relations – Realism (power), Liberalism (interests) and Constructivism (norms). Preliminary results, acquired through expert interviews and archive research, indicate that the applied eclectic approach has a remarkable explanatory power regarding the Japanese ODA distribution after the Cold War. Moreover, ODA distribution patterns turn out to be consistent with Japanese foreign policy behavior.

Raymond Yamamoto, PhD candidate at the University of Hamburg, is currently conducting fieldwork in Japan as a Japan Foundation fellow researcher. This presentation offers an overview over work in progress and first results of his PhD thesis on Japanese ODA.
The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

[SSJ: 8487] 【Notice】 Invitation to 90th GRIPS Forum on 7th April

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2014/03/24

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on April 7.

Please register at Registration Form by April
4(Fri)17：00ｐｍ.
*If you can’t open the registration form, please send an email to gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address without changing the title.

*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Japan has entered a period in which the population is both rapidly aging and shrinking. The speed at which the population is aging and shrinking will accelerate in the future. Population is the fundamental factor of society and economy, and such a large-scale transformation of the demographic structure has a tremendous effect on various sectors. At the same time, the “experiences” Japan has had and will have are expected to offer valuable suggestions to foreign countries. This lecture aims at discussing multilateral policy challenges Japan currently faces, while clarifying various aspects of unprecedented growth in an aging and shrinking population, based on data used to estimate this population.

Speakers’ Profile:
After graduating from the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Tokyo, Professor Shimazaki joined the Ministry of Health and Welfare-now the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare-in 1978. After assuming the position of Associate Professor of Faculty of Law and Economics of Chiba University, he acted as manager of the Employees’ Health Insurance Division of the Health Insurance Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He further acted as Deputy Director-General of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, and Visiting Professor of the University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics. Professor Shimazaki has held the present position since 2007. He obtained a doctoral degree in commerce from Waseda University. His major books
include: Health Care in Japan: Institutions and Policies. (University of Tokyo Press, 2011) (in
Japanese) and The Path to Universal Health Converge:
Experiences and Lessons from Japan for Policy Actions (JICA, 2013).

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

[SSJ: 8486] NCC's Research Access Guides 3rd Edition

NCC Publishes the 3rd Edition of it Research Access Guides In Commemoration of the 3rd Anniversary of Japan’s Triple Disasters of 2011

NCC (the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources) is pleased to announce publication on March 11, 2014 of:

The NCC’s Online Guide to Research Access in Japanese Museums, Libraries, and Archives, 3rd Edition (日本研究
のためのMLAアクセスガイド) containing detailed entries for an additional 50 institutions, bringing the total number of institutions profiled in the Research Access Guides to 150. In addition to the new profiles contained in the third edition, listings for major museums, libraries and archives contained in the first two editions have been updated and new content has been added.

To easily locate the 150 institutions contained in the Guide the site includes an interactive regional map, with cross-reference by subject and collection specialization, all found linked to the alpha list of institutions
http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=216466&sid=3
505746.

Entries are presented in a uniform English-language format with links to an institution’s principal Japanese and English webpages; major collections and facilities each have individually linked pages with brief English summaries of key contents. Bilingual templates for letters of introduction and materials request forms are downloadable in an easily edited format, and a bilingual glossary is appended. Each Research Access Guide provides contact information, special policies and procedures of individual institutions, online maps, hours of operations, institutional holidays, and other programs of special interest to scholars and students from abroad. Find the Research Access Guides at:
guides.nccjapan.org/researchaccess.

Beginning in the summer of 2014 NCC will expand the Research Access Guides to include major Japanese museum, library and archive collections worldwide. The first edition of the North American Guide will be published in 2014 and the first European edition in 2015. Subsequent editions on Japanese collections in Asia and a Southern Hemisphere edition will be published thereafter.

The guides are published with a Creative Commons license with materials available on an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike basis. Visit the NCC’s homepage for a complete list of online services guides.nccjapan.org/homepage.

March 21, 2014

[SSJ: 8485] Conference on "Happiness in Japan"

From: Barbara Holthus
Date: 2014/03/21

Dear list-members,

we would like to invite you to the international conference on "Deciphering the Social DNA of Happiness:
Life Course Perspectives from Japan", organized by the Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies, in cooperation with the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ).

In recent years, governments of several OECD countries including Japan have shown a heightened interest in gauging the happiness of their people. Previous research has shown that material and structural conditions as well as their subjective perception have an impact on the degree of happiness in and across populations. Many studies acknowledge cross-cultural variability, but the most prominent academic fields in happiness research, psychology and economics, are not fully capable of coming to terms with the dispositions and patterns of happiness in society. We propose that anthropology and sociology with their respective methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, and heuristic assumptions are better equipped to explore the multidimensionality of happiness and well-being.
For the purpose of deciphering 'The Social DNA of Happiness in Japan', well-known Japan specialists will look at happiness and well-being with an eye to the shaping impacts of social institutions and socio-cultural values. By covering specific social groups, speakers will demonstrate how life stages and life events have a distinctive impact on states and expressions of well-being in contemporary Japan.

[SSJ: 8484] Lecture on Thursday April 10, 18.30

Thursday, 10 April 2014, 18.30 h
Markus Pudelko, Professor, University of Tübingen Opportunities and Constrains for Japanese Women Pursuing a Career: Between Self-fulfilment and Frustration

This study on Japanese women’s current career opportunities finds traditional Japanese gender roles to be mostly still in place, rendering it highly difficult for Japanese women to pursue a career in domestic organizations. It is suggested that Japanese women do not perceive male oppression as the (main) problem and obtaining the same rights and duties not as the solution. Instead, what women mainly require is a substantial redefinition of the work life balance in Japanese organizations. In this sense, the fault lines are not so much between men and women but between organizations and employees.
Furthermore, Japanese women choosing to work for foreign employers in Japan did not so because of professional concerns alone, but also because of emotional factors. As they often reject the constraints of traditional Japanese gender roles, working for foreign employers signifies for them the pursuit of a liberating Western lifestyle. Moreover, Japanese women working for foreign companies often perceive themselves as outsiders in Japanese society, but also as a kind of avant-garde, possibly setting new trends in Japanese working life and perhaps in Japanese society at large.
Markus Pudelko is Professor of International Business at Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, School of Business and Economics and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. He has earned Master degrees in Business Studies (Cologne U), Economics (Sorbonne U) and International Management (CEMS) and a PhD (Cologne U). Prior to joining the University of Tübingen he worked eight years for the University of Edinburgh Business School. For longer-term research purposes he visits frequently other universities, such as Columbia U, Melbourne U, IESE, U of Stellenbosch, Fudan U, Peking U, Korea U, Doshisha U, Sophia U and Waseda U. His current research is on headquarters-subsidiary relationships, the impact of language on international business, Japanese HRM and cross-cultural management.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 06.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free; please register at:
forum@dijtokyo.org or
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

[SSJ: 8483] Next meeting of Japan History Group

From: Naofumi Nakamura
Date: 2014/03/21

The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Tuesday,
22 April, at 6:00 PM in Conference Room No.1(Dai-Ichi
Kaigishitsu)
of the Institute of Social Science main Building.

Abstract:
The question of why states recognize others'
sovereignty has attracted increasing attention in the international relations literature. In this paper, I study the 1890s recognition of Imperial Japan by the West-and in particular by Great Britain, the most important Western power at that time. My argument is that the success of Japan's internal reforms created a strong presumption in the West that it was on the threshold of sovereign recognition, but the British ultimately required sufficient material incentives of the right kind to allow Japan across the threshold.
Japan could not win the recognition it craved until the British realized that they would do well by doing good.
In other words, Britain's acceptance of Japan's full sovereign status was greatly assisted by high politics-low politics issue-linkage.
Bio: Jacques E. C. Hymans is associate professor of international relations at the University of Southern California. His most recent book is Achieving Nuclear
Ambitions: Scientists, Politicians, and Proliferation (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

--
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo
naofumin[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

March 20, 2014

* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.
=================
Narushige Michishita: Myths and Realities of Japanese Security Policy =================
Date: Friday, April 18, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Narushige Michishita, Professor and the Director of the Security and International Studies Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Moderator:Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

Our friend Narushige Michishita will lead a discussion on “myths and realities of Japan’s security policy.”
Here are some of the myths he will seek to refutate.

Myth: The SDF is not a military force.
Reality: The SDF is a full-fledged military force and one of the most powerful in the world.

Myth: Japan is committed to a nuclear-free world.
Reality: Japan regards US extended nuclear deterrence as an indispensable element of its security policy.

Myth: Japan will start playing a major role in global security affair if the constitution is reinterpreted.
Reality: Japan will start playing a slightly more important role if the constitution is reinterpreted.

Speaker

Narushige Michishita is professor and the director of the Security and International Studies Program at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).
Previously, he served as senior research fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Ministry of Defense and assistant counsellor at the Cabinet Secretariat for Security and Crisis Management of the Government of Japan. He acquired his Ph.D. from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. A specialist in Japanese security and foreign policy as well as security issues on the Korean Peninsula, his works include North Korea's Military-Diplomatic Campaigns, 1966-2008 (Routledge, 2010). For more info visit:
https://twitter.com/NaruMichishita

March 19, 2014

[SSJ: 8481] ISS PhD Workshop March 27: Why did Japanese ODA shrink?

From: John Campbell
Date: 2014/03/19

The Social Science Dissertation Workshop, sponsored by the Institute of Social Science at Tokyo University, is a monthly session to discuss projects being carried out by younger social scientists. The discussion generally focuses on research design as well as findings. We meet next on March 27.* Presenting is Ray Yamamoto, a political scientist doing a dissertation in Japanese studies at Hamburg U.

His topic is "Japan's Official Development Assistance:
Strategies in Changing National and Global Contexts."
ODA has long been seen as a key component in Japanese foreign policy, and its spending rose steadily until 1996, but the trend since then has been downward. Ray asks how changes in the domestic and international contexts explain the shift. He seeks answers by looking through the lenses of international relations theories (realism, liberalism, constructivism) to focus on the key elements of ODA policy: national security, economy and philanthropy. He also draws on archival resources and interviews for "process tracing" to see how the key decisions came about.

Guests are always welcome; I appreciate hearing if you are coming but it isn't necessary.

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at 12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond. The Institute of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is room 533 on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/documents/Hongo_Campu
sMap_E.pdf

-----
>From John Creighton Campbell
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
University of Michigan
Visiting Scholar, Institute of Gerontology Tokyo University

March 18, 2014

[SSJ: 8480] [Temple ICAS Event] 11 APR 2014 Secrets of the State: The Impact of Japan's New State Secrecy Law on Information Control, Surveillance and Government Transparency

From: ICAS
Date: 2014/03/18

* Please note that this event will start at 7:00 p.m.,
30 minutes earlier than regular ICAS events.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.
========================
Secrets of the State: The Impact of Japan's New State Secrecy Law on Information Control, Surveillance and Government Transparency ========================
Date: Friday, April 11, 2014
Time: Door opens at 6:30pm, Program starts at 7:00pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F

access:

http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html

Panelists:
Martin Fackler, Tokyo bureau chief for the New York Times Koichi Nakano, Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University Lawrence Repeta, Professor on the law faculty of Meiji University in Tokyo

* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

Under the forceful leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s national Diet passed a far-reaching state secrecy act on December 6, 2013. The new law grants power to all major administrative agencies to designate information secret when they decide its release would present a risk of damage to national security and that the information falls within any of four categories:
national security, foreign relations, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage.

The law has been subject to widespread opposition both within Japan and from the international community. This criticism was summarized by United Nations Rapporteur for Freedom of Speech Frank Larue, who wrote that the new secrecy law “not only appears to establish very broad and vague grounds for secrecy but also include serious threats to whistle-blowers and even journalists reporting on secrets.”

The duty to maintain secrets will be enforced by a new criminal penalty of up to ten years in prison.
Journalists and others who improperly instigate the release of secrets face imprisonment of up to five years. Critics fear that the new secrecy power may be used to conceal a wide range of government activities, including oversight of nuclear power plants, information related to U.S. military bases, and police surveillance, including investigations of Muslims and others considered to be potential terrorists.

Many have also pointed to the connection between expanded secrecy power and the Liberal Democratic Party's plan to revise Japan’s Constitution to increase government power and reduce protections for individual rights. Recent action by the Abe administration to change the government’s longstanding interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution to allow for “collective self-defense”
has also raised the concerns of many who fear this will lead to Japan’s participation in military actions abroad.

Prime Minister Abe has defended the new law as being a necessary strengthening of Japanese security, that will allow more sharing of secrets with its allies, principally the United States. Modeled in part on comparable laws in the U.S. that were implemented after
9.11 by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Japanese state secrecy act may be used to bolster state surveillance and legalize more intrusive scrutiny of its citizens. As we have seen with the public disclosure of surveillance by the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies in the U.S. by whistleblowers such as Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, the implications of Japan's state secrecy act may be that whistleblowers can be imprisoned for revealing information that is perceived to threaten the interests and political agenda's of state-level actors.

What will be the impact of this new law on the Japan’s military activities? How will it influence the work of news reporters and the release of vital information to the Japanese people? How will the law affect the willingness of whistleblowers to step forward and raise issues that may be seen to jeopardize state secrets?
Is the new secrecy law actually necessary? Whose interests does it serve?

Our distinguished panel, comprised of authorities in Japanese law, academia and journalism, will consider questions like these as they discuss the law’s impact on Japan’s future as a democratic society.

Panelists

Martin Fackler is the Tokyo bureau chief for the New York Times, covering Japan and the Korean peninsula. A native of Iowa who grew up in Georgia, he was first captivated by Asia more than 20 years ago when he spent his sophomore year in college studying Mandarin and classical Chinese at Taiwan’s Tunghai University. A chance to study Japanese at Keio University in Tokyo led him to Japan, where he later did graduate work in economics at the University of Tokyo. He has Masters degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana and in East Asian history from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to the New York Times, he has also worked in Tokyo for the Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review, Associated Press and Bloomberg News. He has also worked for the AP in New York, Beijing and Shanghai. He joined The New York Times in 2005, working first as Tokyo business correspondent before assuming his current position in 2009. In 2012, Martin was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for his and his colleagues’ investigative stories on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident that the prize committee said offered a “powerful exploration of serious mistakes concealed by authorities in Japan.” He is the author (in Japanese) of “Credibility Lost: The Crisis in Japanese Newspaper Journalism after Fukushima,” a critical look at Japanese media coverage of the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.

Koichi Nakano is Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University. He specializes in the comparative politics of advanced industrial democracies, particularly Japan and Europe, and in political theory. He has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Tokyo, a second B.A. in philosophy and politics from the University of Oxford, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University. His research has focused on a variety of issues of contemporary Japanese politics from comparative, historical, and philosophical perspectives, including neoliberal globalization and nationalism; the Yasukuni problem; language, media and politics; amakudari and administrative reform in Japan; decentralization; the cross-national transfer of policy ideas; and a review of the DPJ government. In English, he has published articles in The Journal of Japanese Studies, Asian Survey, The Pacific Review, West European Politics, Governance, and a single-authored book entitled Party Politics and Decentralization in Japan and France: When the Opposition Governs (Routledge, 2010) among others. In Japanese, his publication includes Sengo Nihon no Kokka Hoshushugi:
Naimu/Jichi Kanryo no Kiseki (Postwar State Conservatism in Japan: A Study of the Bureaucrats of the Ministry of Home Affairs) (Iwanami Shoten, 2013).
He has also frequently commented on Japanese politics for the international and Japanese media, including BBC, CNN, Reuters, AP, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, ABC, The Australian, and BS Fuji.

Lawrence Repeta is a professor on the law faculty of Meiji University in Tokyo. He has served as a lawyer, business executive, and law professor in Japan and the United States. He is best known in Japan as the plaintiff in a landmark suit decided by the Supreme Court of Japan in 1989 that opened Japan`s courts to note-taking by courtroom spectators. He serves on the board of directors of Information Clearinghouse Japan
(情報公開クリアリングハウス) www.clearing-house.org; an NGO devoted to promoting open government in Japan that is affiliated with other organizations that promote individual rights. He has been awarded an Abe Fellowship by the Center for Global Partnership to conduct research at the National Security Archive, a non-profit research institute located at George Washington University www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv. Larry is a former director of the Temple University Law Program in Japan.

March 15, 2014

You are cordially invited to SIPEC/Aoyama Gakuin Univ.
Seminar on "Civ-Mil Interaction in Peace/Stability Operations" by William J. Flavin, Assistant Director, US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). RSVP.

2014年度 国際研究センター研究会のお知らせ

The Currents and Future of Civil-Military Interaction in the Field:
Humanitarian Space and UN Integration

* William Flavin assumed the job as the Assistant Director at the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, located at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in July 2013. Before this assignment he was the head of the Doctrine and Education Division in PKSOI. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Colonel in the US Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. He was a senior fellow at CSIS for his Army War College year and taught at the Army War College.
** The nature and complexities of today’s multi-dimensional operations are such that no single organization, department, or agency has all the requisite resources, authority, or expertise to single-handedly provide an effective response. While the military normally focuses on reaching clearly defined and measurable objectives within given timelines under a command structure, civilian organizations are concerned with fulfilling changeable political, economic, social, and humanitarian interests using dialogue, bargaining, risk taking, and consensus building. Harnessing the power of disparate organizations with different priorities and procedures is a daunting task. As such, collaboration among various military, governmental, non-governmental, and civilian agencies with the host nation is needed to achieve a common goal.

The ROK Navy is an organization torn between deterring North Korea in the littorals of the Korean Peninsula and developing forces capable of operating within the wider East Asian maritime environment. This presentation will analyze how the ROK and by extension its navy views and reacts to the security challenges posed by the rise of China. Importantly, it will shed light on the history procurement and operational doctrine of the ROKN, linking them to the ROK’s regional security policies and will demonstrate that the rise of China is an important element in informing the ROK’s perceptions of security and the utility of seapower.

Dr Ian Bowers is a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of Defence Studies based in Oslo.
He specializes in South Korean security and Asian naval affairs, his current projects include a study on the influence of non-traditional naval operations on Asian navies and the future of South Korean - Japanese Security Relations. Dr Bowers received his PhD in War Studies from King’s College London in 2013.

Grant Newsham is a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. He served with the US Marines for nearly thirty years, mostly in Asia, and was recently the first Marine Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. He is also a former US diplomat, serving at the US Embassy, Tokyo in the 1990’s. His research focuses on Asian defense and his articles have been published in the Christian Science Monitor, Daily Yomiuri, among others.

For some time, Liberal Democratic Party politicians have made no secret of their longing for the "good old days" when Republicans lived in the White House.
Besides the typical nostalgia, it is difficult to comprehend Japanese conservatives' preference for the GOP (Grand Old Party as the U.S. Republican Party is known).

Ideologically there is little in common between both groups. American conservatives, even more than liberals, worship individualism. They seek to restrict the power of the state. American conservatism is centered on the individual, Japanese conservatism is communitarian. Government for Americans exists to serve citizens, for Japanese conservatives, subjects are there to serve the state.

The right to bear (fire)arms, vital to many Republicans (and some Democrats) is partly rooted in the belief that a free people must be able to overthrow tyranny.

To Japanese conservatives, the idea that Japan would be better off if there were more guns than residents totally contradicts their concepts of state-society relations.

Home schooling is another example. For many religious Republicans (and others), it allows families to decide what their offspring should learn without interference from the government. For the LDP, schools must be mobilized to homogenize Japanese children and instill them with state-approved ideas.

There is also a strong streak of Christian fundamentalism in the current GOP with an emphasis on outlawing abortion, questioning evolution and, more broadly, seeing the Bible as a policy guide. Japanese conservatives are attached to Shinto, but refrain from seeking divine guidance when it comes to 21st-century science.

On the economic front, there are also divergences.
American conservative ideology is centered on free markets, whereas the LDP remains wedded to strong government involvement in the economy and paternalism.

So, if ideology does not unite the LDP and the GOP, are there more concrete reasons for preferring Republicans over Democrats? Without going back to the Japanese Constitution (written under the supervision of a Republican, Gen. Douglas MacArthur) or to the Nixon shocks (China, dollar devaluation, unilateral tariffs), it is hard to see how one American party has been better than the other for conservatives in Japan.

Some Japanese fear that the Democrats are "soft on China," but during the EP-3 incident in 2001, when a People's Liberation Army Air Force struck a U.S. Navy plane, President George W. Bush was as accommodating as possible.

The Iraq War, supported by many Democrats but initiated by the Bush-Cheney team with nearly total GOP approval, served the interests of China, which saw U.S. attention and military forces focus on Mesopotamia to the detriment of Asia. The nuclear agreement with North Korea, signed toward the end of the Bush presidency, was widely disparaged in Japan as a "stab in the back."

As for the Obama administration, it did its best to crush the Hatoyama Cabinet. American undermining of the Democratic Party of Japan over Okinawa proved enormously valuable to the LDP. This alone should convince Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to enshrine Obama at Yasukuni.

The proximate cause for anger at Obama is the soft rebuke expressed following Abe's Yasukuni pilgrimage Dec. 26, but it reflected a widely shared opinion in America.

Under Bush, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Yasukuni trips did not generate a formal statement, though reportedly the U.S. informally expressed its concern.

Abe's visits were different from those of Koizumi, who made it clear that he did not agree with the Yasukuni view of history, signed letters of apology to former "comfort women" and was not a revisionist.

Nor did Koizumi appoint to NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, governors who say that America made up the Nanjing Massacre to distract attention from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

One other grievance is the alleged lack of "Japan hands" in the Democratic camp. This also is a strange
accusation:

First, in neither party are there many Japan experts.

Second, in the U.S. system, country specialists very seldom reach top policymaking positions. There were exceptions during the Cold War when familiarity with Soviet affairs was a premium, but Soviet experts were also well versed in broader European and NATO affairs.
Basing the relationship with the U.S. on contacts with "Japan hands" makes no sense for Tokyo.

Third, as mentioned above, what did the "friends of Japan" in the Bush administration deliver to the LDP?
The Iraq War? The doomed deal with North Korea?

Looking at the record since 1945, it is hard to see a correlation between different policies toward Japan and the party in power in Washington.

The axis of U.S. policy has remained constant in that Japan has remained a major ally amid frequent periods of tension, mostly but not solely over trade.

There are numerous cases where Democratic presidents took actions that harmed Japan; however, the same applies to Republicans. America's China policy has been fairly consistent since the end of the Cold War regardless of party affiliation.

What is critical today is for Tokyo to realize that U.S. dissatisfaction with the Abe Cabinet over "history" is not a plot by left-wing "Panda-hugging"
Democrats. Like the major reforms under the Occupation, which emerged from the American consensus and not the biases of New Dealers, American disagreements with Abe over the politics of history are not confined to Democrats.

A Republican president in the form of Mitt Romney would, in most likelihood, have been equally openly hostile to the support of the "Yasukuni" narrative of history displayed by the Japanese premier.

It would be a serious miscalculation for the LDP to hope for an improved relationship with Washington if the GOP, advised by friendly Japan specialists, were in power. Whether American policy is wise or not is an important debate. At this point, though, the fact is that it would not change significantly if Obama and the Democrats were not in charge.

Robert Dujarric is director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan.
Email:
robertdujarric@gmail.com

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

March 12, 2014

[SSJ: 8476] What is a Disaster?

From: Michael Edward Walsh
Date: 2014/03/12

Earlier today, I published a brief excerpt from my upcoming journal article "Disasters as Institutional Facts." It can be found on the Federation of American Scientists website:
http://blogs.fas.org/blog/2014/03/xycs-disasters/ It outlines an alternative approach to explaining how security issues are socially constructed that differs radically from the Copenhagen School's securitization framework. My ongoing research seeks to apply this theoretical approach to natural disaster response in Japan. I am therefore looking for disaster response experts, particularly in law and politics, who would be willing to engage on these topics. I am also looking for opportunities to present my research at Japanese universities for comment form the faculty and doctoral students. And, I would welcome any comments to this first publication of my conceptualization of disasters.

Respectfully,
Michael Edward Walsh
PhD Candidate - SOAS, University of London Senior Fellow - Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Visiting Researcher - Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

March 11, 2014

[SSJ: 8475] CJG March 20, 2014 announcement (Mark Ramseyer)

From: Gregory W. NOBLE
Date: 2014/03/11

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by J. Mark Ramseyer (Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies, Harvard Law School; Visiting Professor, University of Tokyo Faculty of Law)

Social Capital and the Formal Legal System: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Data in Japan

Thursday, March 20, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
Verifiable proxies for social capital potentially provide an empirically tractable way to identify environments where social norms both constrain behavior and substitute for judicial enforcement. Using regression and factor analysis with Japanese prefecture-level data, I test several facets of this proposition. First, people in prefectures with high levels of social capital more readily comply with a range of low-level legal mandates. Second, reflecting the fact that social norms need not point toward government-approved ends, taxpayers in high social-capital prefectures (particularly in the agricultural sector) are more -- not less -- likely to evade taxes. Third, conditional on levels of economic
welfare: (a) firms in prefectures with low levels of social capital are more likely to default on their contracts; (b) residents in low social-capital prefectures are probably (the results are ambiguous) more likely to litigate; (c) distressed debtors in low social-capital prefectures are more likely to file in court for bankruptcy protection; and (d) creditors of distressed debtors in low social-capital prefectures are more likely to apply in court for enforcement orders.

SPEAKER
Mark Ramseyer is the Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies, Harvard Law School and Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law. He spent most of his childhood in provincial towns and cities in southern Japan, attending Japanese schools for K-6. He returned to the U.S. for college. Before attending law school, he studied Japanese history in graduate school. Ramseyer graduated from HLS in 1982.
He clerked for the Hon. Stephen Breyer (then on the First Circuit), worked for two years at Sidley & Austin (in corporate tax), and studied as a Fulbright student at the University of Tokyo. After teaching at UCLA and the University of Chicago, he came to Harvard in 1998.
He has also taught or co-taught courses at several Japanese universities (in Japanese). In his research, Ramseyer primarily studies Japanese law, and primarily from a law & economics perspective. In addition to a variety of Japanese law courses, he teaches the basic Corporations course. With Professors Klein and Bainbridge, he co-edits a Foundation Press casebook in the field.

Contemporary Japan Group
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, please visit our website:
http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/
or contact
Gregory W. NOBLE (noble[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

For all the concentration on the possibility of large-scale, spectacular terrorist threats to the world's political and economic centres, most of what happens in urban security is more mundane and small-scale. This talk reflects on several years of work on security and public safety in Tokyo, the world's biggest metropolis, and one of the 'big three'
global cities along with London and New York. In common with most major cities, Tokyo has seen an increase in high-tech surveillance and a reorganization of security in the wake of terrorist attacks, but at street-level, there is still a huge variety of different security practices in different parts of the city, from the most digital to others which would not have been out of place in the nineteenth century and which can seem more like exercises in nostalgia. Underlying this, I argue, is not the fear of global terrorist, but a more pervasive anxiety over socio-economic transformation and the opening of Japan to other kinds of global
flows: trade, migrants and culture, even in this most apparently fast-moving and twenty-first century of Asian cities.

David Murakami Wood is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University and holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Surveillance Studies. He is also currently a JSPS Invitation Fellow in the Department of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University and a Visiting Professor in the Center for Business Information Ethics, Meiji University. His research examines the globalization of surveillance, and focuses on several different global cities, in particular Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and London. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Surveillance and Society, the international journal of surveillance studies, and a founder of the Surveillance Studies Network.

[SSJ: 8473] Lecture on Wednesday 19 March, 18.30 h

You are cordially invited to the next DIJ Forum Wednesday 19 March, 18.30 h Aya H. Kimura, Professor, University of Hawai’i at Manoa Citizen Radiation Measurement Stations after 3.11: Food Safety Knowledge Gaps and the Problem of “Citizen” in Citizen Science

The primary pathways through which environmentally persistent radioactive substances enter people’s bodies is food. After 3.11 Japanese authorities and scientists were unable to provide clear guidelines on possible effects of internal radiation. They took weeks to set up a monitoring system. In response to this, many citizens took matters into their own hands to monitor food and measure the level of contamination. This talk analyzes citizen radiation measuring stations and their role in filling the critical knowledge gaps on food safety issues after the nuclear accident.

Theoretically, this paper analyzes the citizen radiation measuring stations as an instance of citizen science, and explores its relation to science governance and democracy. It asks who the “citizens”
were in citizen science in post 3.11 Japan. The question of representation in scientific matters is central here. Who was deemed the right kind of person to talk about the issue of food contamination? The notion of “citizen” emerged as a counterpart to experts, but who could actually fulfill the idealized role of a citizen was heavily contested. In this limited space, women found the symbolic power of “mother” as an ideal-type citizen. The talk also explores the complicated terrain of the maternal representation in the history of anti-nuclear movements in Japan.

Aya H. Kimura is Professor of Women’s Studies at University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She is currently a visiting researcher at Doshisha University. She specializes in feminist STS and agrofood studies. She is the author of Hidden Hunger: Gender and Politics of Smarter Food (Cornell University Press, 2013) and several articles on Japanese food politics.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 18.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free; please register at:
forum@dijtokyo.org or
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

The death penalty in a changing society: a survey of recent developments in Japan Silvia Croydon
http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cj_cj.2014.26.issue-1_2
0140226101600/cj-2014-0005/cj-2014-0005.xml?format=INT

The end of salaryman tax reduction: Japan’s tax policy and its social background Miki Toyofuku
http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cj_cj.2014.26.issue-1_2
0140226101600/cj-2014-0006/cj-2014-0006.xml?format=INT

The East China Sea (ECS) is a factor of increasingly central importance in Sino-Japanese relations. From a geography perspective, this marginal sea structurally connects the People's Republic of China (PRC, hereafter
China) and Japan. Historically, the ECS has played an important role in Sino-Japanese relations, facilitating commercial and cultural connections, and regulating political and military interactions. Today, its waters have come to play a core role in the national security agendas set by governments in Tokyo and Beijing for three sets of reasons. First, the main sea routes of the ECS offer vital arteries for Chinese and Japanese trade. Second, fish stocks and natural resources in this basin are invaluable to food and energy requirements of both nations. Third, the ECS constitutes a main staging platform for the deployment of capabilities to defend (or claim) national territories as well as for the projection of power (soft and hard) and influence in the region and beyond.
How do Chinese and Japanese academics and practitioners view the evolving role of the ECS in their security calculations? How are these perceptions affecting bilateral relations? Is the maritime nature of the space that connects China and Japan going to affect the ways in which these two countries engaged, engage and are likely to engage with each other? If so, what are these ways and to what degree will they lead to cooperation or conflict?

This workshop engages with the above questions. It aims to draw Japanese and Chinese academics and practitioners together with leading experts from Europe and North America to explore the roles of the ECS in the changing nature of Sino-Japanese relations. The project approaches this topic from three different
perspectives:

*Please note this event will start at 7:00pm.
==================================
The Taiji Dolphin Drive: Cultural Tradition or Slaughter?
- An evening with Ric O'Barry and Izumi Ishii ==================================
Date: Friday, March 14, 2014
Time: Door opens at 6:30pm, Program starts at 7:00pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speakers:
Ric O'Barry, Director of the Dolphin Project of the Earth Island Institute Izumi Ishii, Advocator for ocean habitat and organizer of Dolphin & Whale Watching tours
Moderator:
Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

Ric O’Barry is one of the world’s most recognized experts on protecting dolphins and whales. As Director of the Dolphin Project of the Earth Island Institute, he has become a leading spokesman for animal rights.
Ric's work became internationally known especially through the Academy Award winning documentary "The Cove," which depicted his efforts to rescue dolphins from the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan. His work has also been featured in the Animal Planet series "Blood Dolphins," and he is the author of several books, including "Behind the Dolphin Smile,"; "To Free a Dolphin," and the children’s book "Happyface," which has been translated and released in Japan. For further information, please visit http://www.dolphinproject.org/

For this special event, Ric will be joined by Izumi Ishii, a 6th generation fisherman and 3rd generation dolphin hunter from the town of Futo, Japan. Although Ishii was one of the early figures in Japan who helped develop the dolphin drive killings in Japan in 1969, his experiences provoked him to reconsider this practice and in 1997 he turned against the dolphin hunts and urged Japan to stop dolphin killing and consider dolphins to be the symbol of a living ocean.
He now runs whale and dolphin-watching cruises from his boat in Futo, explaining to passengers about the history of killing dolphins in Futo and why he decided to end his hunts. The town of Futo has not conducted any dolphin captures since 2004 (only 9 dolphins were caught that year, all for sale to marine parks), and has become a major location for recreational SCUBA diving and other tourism opportunities. For further information of his activities, please visit
https://sv361.xserver.jp/~tes-sev/kohkaimaru.com/?l=2

Since the release of "The Cove," the Japanese dolphin drives in Taiji have become a flashpoint for debates on Japan's historical legacies as they relate to international norms. Whereas nostalgic traditionalists (including the Japanese right-wing Uyoku) have defended Japanese dolphin drives as a deeply rooted cultural tradition, critics have claimed that this presumably archaic historical tradition is in fact a recent development among a limited group of fisherman who exploit animals for economic gain and "play the culture card" as a way to defend their practices. Moreover, as the film "The Cove" described, dolphin meat from the hunts, much of which has been contaminated from mercury and PCB toxins, have found their way into the Japanese market place, and been used in public school lunches, a scandal that has raised issues of transparency, public health and consumer choice.

This event will provide a forum to discuss these controversial issues with two of the most influential figures who brought these issues to widespread, international attention.

March 06, 2014

[SSJ: 8469] Job Announcement

From: Christopher Bondy
Date: 2014/03/06

International Christian University, Department of Society, Culture and Media, is pleased to announce a search for a full-time faculty position in the sociology of gender or sociology of the family. The successful applicant is expected to teach introductory sociology, research methods, a general education course, specialized course and a graduate-school course.

This is a tenure track position at the Associate Professor or above (At ICU, the rank of Associate Professor is an entry-level faculty position). The application must be postmarked by March 31, 2014. The deadline may be extended until the most appropriate candidate is found.

Please see the following website for more details:
http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gjg/KOBO/gendere140117.html
or email sociology-search[at]icu.ac.jp

[SSJ: 8468] Sophia University ICC Workshop reminder (Mar. 8)

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture collaborative research project on the translation and circulation of "Japanese" texts in the early twentieth century presents a workshop on

Trajectories of ‘Japanese’ Texts in the Early Twentieth Century ( http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/140308_Japanese_literature.pdf )

March 8, 2014
13:00-17:30
Sophia University

In this project, we wish to examine various aspects of the global flow of texts, people and ideas related to publications in Japanese or about Japan in the early twentieth century, and to investigate their transnational and/or transcultural possibilities. First, we wish to focus on the early translations of Japanese literature into European and Asian languages between the 1900s and the 1940s. The translation affects the reading and writing of the original literary texts, as writers such as Ōgai Mori were highly conscious of the possibility of their works being translated. Also, we wish to examine how texts of Japanese bilingual writers such as Kakuzō Okakura and Yone Noguchi circulated across national borders, contributing to the construction of the images of Japanese culture within and outside Japan.

We are particularly interested in the role of various institutions involved in the circulation of Japanese texts. For example, new translations of Japanese texts (written in European languages or in translation) were linked with the transformation of academic disciplines related to Asian culture and the rise of Japanese studies in the West in the early twentieth century. The international network of publishers, writers, and institutions (private and governmental) was also significant. We hope to illuminate the roles of these institutions and their networks in the early twentieth century.

Venue:
Room 301, 3F, Building 10
Sophia University Yotsuya Campus

Schedule:

Opening Remark: 13:00

Session 1: 13:10-14:30
・Shion Kono (Sophia University)
“The Hokuseidō Press and the English-language Translation Network in the interwar Japan”
・Kazuhiko Sawada (Saitama University)
“Russian Translations of Japanese Literary Works Published by the South Manchuria Railway Company”

About the speaker: Dr. Takahashi specializes in energy policy with focus on market liberalization, grid unbundling, renewable energy and smart grid. He has actively participated in policy formation as Special Advisor to the Cabinet Office as well as a member of advisory panels of Agency of Natural Resources and Energy. He obtained doctoral degree from the University of Tokyo and master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His former career includes a product planner at Sony Corporation, Deputy Director at IT Policy Office of Cabinet Secretariat, and Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo. He taught classes about public policy at Sophia University and Seijo University. He is the author of “Market Liberalization of Electric Utilities” published by Nihon Keizai Shinbun Shuppan-sha in 2011, and “The Politics of Technological Innovation” published by Keiso Shobo in 2009. He wrote many research papers about energy policy, bureaucracy and policy process for academic journals, major newspapers and commercial magazines.

About the talk: Japanese Government is now trying to reform electric power system which has been closed to competition and divided by region for more than 60 years. Organization for Nationwide Coordination of Transmission Operators will enable variable generators to be integrated into the national power system. Full retail market liberalization will enable consumers to choose competitive suppliers and user-friendly services. Grid Unbundling will not only ensure fair grid access but also expand transmission businesses. Thus, electric power system reform will contribute to the creation of new businesses. In this presentation, updated conditions of the reform will be explained, and possibility of new businesses will be examined.

Current events are frequently viewed through the prism of analogies. Words become shorthand for a particular type of situation. “Munich” equals the danger of appeasing bloodthirsty dictators, “Vietnam,” and now “Iraq/Afghanistan” means the folly of getting involved in (or, in the case of Iraq, starting) civil wars in countries whose societies the outsiders neither understand nor can effectively influence. In some cases, acting on these parallels turns out to be wise.
The fear of repeating “Munich” helps explain the forceful and successful American response to Soviet expansionism at the start of the Cold War (Berlin, Korea, etc.). In other cases, they are misguided, as was the case in the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt, where Nasser was no Hitler and giving up the Suez canal would not have equated to throwing Czechoslovakia to the wolves.

The analogy that is currently in vogue in Asia is “1914.” This is a particularly complex one, as there are two distinct narratives of that fateful year. The one that was prevalent in the U.K. and the U.S. for many decades after the conflict that ensued perceived the war through the “Sarajevo” lens as a giant cataclysm in which all the players bore a share of the blame for the destruction of Western civilization.
Another interpretation, which is more dominant today, is best illustrated by the late German historian Fritz Fischer’s Germany’s Aims in the First World War (1961), which assigns most of the responsibility to Berlin.

The “2014 as 1914” discussion covers both theses. Those who dread that a minor maritime collision could escalate into Armageddon subscribe to the “Sarajevo”
theory, where an assassin’s bullet set off a chain reaction which even men and women of good intention could not stop. Others think that Beijing is bent on regional, if not world, domination. They see China’s hypertrophied ambitions as an early 21st century of the German Empire’s quest for power described in Fischer’s works. Many officials and analysts who refer to “1914”
fall in between. They often know little about European history but see an ominous danger of war that reminds them of what they think “1914” was.

The one common threat in the “1914” warnings is that the People’s Republic is perceived as the Asian counterpart of Wilhelmine Germany. A rising continental autocracy with territorial ambitions on land and dreams of overseas expansion confronting a potential coalition of onshore (India, Vietnam, ROK, maybe even Russia) and offshore (Japan, Taiwan, parts of ASEAN, U.S.) powers.
For some, Beijing’s expansionist aims are obvious; others see them as moderate and blame Washington and its allies for not accepting China’s rise, reflecting the same differences of interpretation that existed in Europe before (and after) World War 1 regarding German goals.

The critical error in this comparison is that China today bears little resemblance to Germany a century ago.

First, their domestic situation is vastly different.
The Hohenzollern dynasty did face discontent at home, in particular a powerful Social-Democratic movement.
But the socio-political fabric of Germany was vastly stronger than that of the People’s Republic. In comparative perspective, Prussia-Germany had enjoyed a stable and productive century prior to 1914, something that does not apply to China in 2014. Prussia-Germany was autocratic but had developed a more effective system to partially include citizens in the political process than China has. Frequent violent protests, and the massive export of capital by rich Communist Party members to overseas accounts, illustrate this point about China’s fragility. It is interesting to note German society, as in existed prior to World War I, was so solidly anchored that much of its establishment survived relatively unscathed four years of total war, defeat and revolution.

Second, we know that Germany in 1914 had an outstanding army. Estimating the worth of the PLA is harder since it has not fought a major campaign since Vietnam defeated China 35 years ago. As a military historian noted “A day’s trial by battle often reveals more of the essential nature of an army than a generation of peace.” (in Russell F. Weigley, Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, 1990) so discussions of the abilities of the PLA are hard to validate. But one thing is clear.
In Imperial Germany, especially in its Prussian core, the ruling classes took military service very seriously. Young men of privilege served in the officer corps, one’s rank in the reserves of prestigious units was a source of great pride and social standing. From what we know about the sons (and daughters) of China’s elite, we are more likely to see them studying in Ivy League campuses, eating in Wall Street cafés, and living in Hong Kong flats than leading platoons and companies of soldiers in the frozen hills of Manchuria or the scorching deserts of Xinjiang.

Third, Germany was not the world’s largest economy on the eve of World War I, the United States was. But in many fields, Germany was the most advanced country on the planet. A German doctorate was the gold standard of academia until Adolf Hitler destroyed the universities.
Germans led in countless disciplines, be it physics, archeology, or medicine. Germany was ahead in many industrial technologies as well. China has progressed, but its relative position lags well behind that of Germany a century ago.

Fourth, the geopolitics are different. Germany had two continental associates, the Habsburg and Ottoman empires. It took several years before the United States joined the Allies. Today, China is essentially bereft of allies and is confronting what is a de facto U.S.-Japan-Australia coalition, potentially augmented by several Asian states and under certain circumstances most of NATO Europe and Canada.

Fifth, Germany in 1914 was a demographically dynamic country. China, due to the twin consequences of the one-child policy and economic development, is aging at a rapid rate. This is not unique in Asia, but compared to its major global competitor, the United States, China is in demographic decline.

What are the implications of these facts? For China’s foes, namely the United States, Japan, and others, they mean that the situation is not as dire as it was in
1914 for Germany’s opponents (whom we should remember came close to being dealt a terminal blow in the opening stages of World War I). For the Chinese Communist Party, they imply that it would be even riskier for it to initiate a conflict than it was for the Central Powers in 1914.

Robert Dujarric is Director, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan

February 27, 2014

[SSJ: 8463] Symposium on university research administrators (URAs), March 18

From: Research Strategy Office, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo
Date: 2014/02/27

On March 18, 2014, the Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo, holds a symposium entitled "The Significance and Diversity of URAs in Promoting Research." The symposium focuses on the role of university research administrators (URAs) in promoting research especially in social science and humanities.

Symposium "The Significance and Diversity of URAs in Promoting Research"

This talk will focus on social cohesion and community stability in the Palestinian city of Nablus. Nablus was under military siege throughout the period of the second intifada (2000-2006) during which time people were unable to leave their neighbourhoods and in many cases were confined to their homes for extended periods of time. Strict restrictions also inhibited the movement of people, products and information from one area to another. In order to facilitate local stability, communities had to develop social networks either based on political movements or kinship ties, these also became significant factors in the formation of local identities. By looking at examples of how some communities dealing with the adverse conditions of long-term isolation were resilient in coping, and others were not, this will offer insight into the differences in social and logistical situations between various communities that contributed to their organisation in endurance. Finally, this will look at recent changes since the end of the second intifada and the presence of external actors in facilitating development projects, this will raise questions in attempts to explain how Nablus area communities which were recently able to maintain a minimum level of self-sufficiency, are now facing increasing social fragmentation.

Joshua Rickard holds a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He has carried out fieldwork in Nablus, Palestine since 2007 and is currently a research fellow in the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore where he is working on a book project: Divided Identities:
The Systematic Social Fragmentation of Palestinian Society. Prior to engaging in academic research he worked as a photographer and journalist, and continues to incorporate visual imagery into his work. His main areas of interest are social cohesion, community identity, civil participation and political mobilisation.

While most industrialized societies experienced post-industrial revolution demographic transitions spanning a century or more, Japan transformed from a high-fertility to a low-fertility society in just one generation. Part of what explains this is effective family planning. In a remarkable reversal of pre-World War II pro-natalist “umeyofuyaseyo” policies, post-WWII Japan became a worldwide model for family planning with pioneering policies including reproductive health education, the legalization of abortion, and promotion of contraceptive use. While working towards different ideological goals, the policy community advocating family planning (including neo-Malthusians, feminists, and public health officials) was broad enough so as to make lowering fertility a society-wide concern. Fast-forward to today’s Japan, where the reverse problem—an aging society and sub-replacement fertility—has prompted much handwringing and some policy adjustments (e.g. expansion of childcare services and an increased focus on problems in women’s employment), but little public or private consensus on the scale or even the desirability of the social, cultural, or political changes needed to reverse declining fertility trends. Through a comparison of the different actors, ideas, institutions, and contexts in each era, Dr. Haig will discuss what Japan’s past experience in promoting smaller families tells us about current efforts to promote larger ones.

Biographical Information

Ken Haig is an assistant professor of political studies at Bard College in New York. He received his BA in history from Harvard and his MA and PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently affiliated with Hokkaido University's Graduate School of Public Policy as an Abe Fellow, during previous fieldwork in Japan he has been affiliated with Keio University as a Fulbright-Hays and JSPS Fellow, and Otaru University of Commerce as a Fulbright Fellow. Haig's current research concerns Japanese policy responses to demographic change, comparing contemporary responses to an aging society and declining fertility with past approaches to controlling population growth, local versus national responses to population decline, and Japanese versus Korean policies on caregiving and women's employment. The title of his Abe research project is: “Family, State, and Society: Japanese and Korean Family Welfare Policies in Comparative Perspective”.

February 21, 2014

This is just a reminder that the ICU Social Science Research Institute symposium on "Political Violence, Human Security and the Civilizing Process" with keynote speaker Professor Andrew Linklater, the Woodrow Wilson Chair of International Politics at the University of Aberystwyth (UK), will be held tomorrow at the International Conference Room at Dialogue House.
For more details see: http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/ssri/

Main sponsors: Social Science Research Institute (SSRI, ICU).
Language: English
Speakers and Presentations:
Prof. Andrew Linklater (University of Aberystwyth, UK) "Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics"

This paper is part of a longer work that discusses the relationship between violence and civilization in the Western states-systems. The longer work ad dresses a tension within the writings of Martin Wight and Norbert Elias, spe cifically whether 'civilised' restraints on violence are stronger in the m ost recent phase of the modern states-system than in earlier epochs or wheth er the modern states-system is not substantially different from its predeces sors. The paper discusses some respects in which the relationship between vi olence and civilization is unique in the contemporary period.
It offers a p reliminary explanation of its uniqueness by drawing on the particular streng ths of process sociology and the English School study of international socie ty

This paper seeks to critically interrogate the view that Human Security can be seen as a manifestation of what Norbert Elias aptly termed the civilizing process. Despite its recent adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2012 and its institutionalization through the United Nations s ystem, Human Security may be viewed –not only in its'narrow' but als o its 'broad' guises—as the latest instantiation of the 'civilizing mission'
facilitating the continued intervention of the western-dominated 'international community' in previously colonized areas of the world. Crit ically reworked, however, Human Security has the potential to constitute a p owerful 'global ethic' by distancing itself from its western 'secular' o rigins and recognizing the multiple religio-cultural contexts in which human dignity is embedded.

Biographies:

Professor Andrew LINKLATER is Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics, University of Aberystwyth, UK. Professor Linklater has been one of the most innovative thinkers in International Relations, introducing critical and ethical elements into the discipline which has forced it to rethink many of its basic assumptions. Educated at Aberdeen, Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE), he joined the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth as the 10th Woodrow Wilson Professor in January 2000.
Author of numerous books and journal articles on International Relations, Professor Linklater is probably best known for the following works: Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations (Macmillan 1982); Beyond Realism and Marxism: Critical Theory and International Relations (1990); The Transformation of Political
Community: Ethical Foundations of the Post-Westphalian Era, (Polity Press 1998); and Critical Theory and World
Politics: Sovereignty, Citizenship and Humanity (Routledge 2007). In 2006, he also jointly authored, with Hidemi Suganami, The English School of International Relations: A Contemporary Reassessment (Cambridge University Press). He is currently completing a three volume series on the problem of harm in world politics.
The first volume, The Problem of Harm in World
Politics: Theoretical Investigations was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011 and the second Harm in World History will be out soon.

Dr. Giorgio SHANI is Director of the Social Science Research Institute and Senior Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. He is author of Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age (Routledge 2007) and co-editor of Protecting Human Security in a Post 9/11 World (Palgrave 2007).
Recently, he served as Chair of the Global Development Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) and has just finished a book on Religion, Identity and Human Security (Routledge April 2014) which forms the basis of this presentation.

[SSJ: 8454] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, March 5: A Swallow Does Not Make a Summer, Or Why Japan May Not Quite Be Germany When It Comes to Renewables

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/02/21

You are cordially invited to the next
DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, March 5, 18.30:

A Swallow Does Not Make a Summer, Or Why Japan May Not Quite Be Germany When It Comes to Renewables

When the Japanese government started implementing a feed-in tariff (FIT) for electricity from renewable energy in July 2012, one might have believed that non-conventional energy sources had finally gained acceptance in Japan. This could not be further from the
truth: Skepticism about the role of renewables in Japan’s energy mix remains as high as ever. This presentation will show how Japan is different from European examples such as Germany or Denmark and why one can probably not expect similar developments.

Japan is part of a set of countries where a policy instrument supporting renewables that had been introduced earlier ended up being replaced entirely at a later stage. Research shows a remarkable difference between countries that have kept a single instrument and ones that traded one instrument for another. While the former have established a virtuous cycle in policy-making, striving pro-actively for a steadily increasing share of renewables, the latter drag their feet, with growth in the share of renewables still restricted – even after the introduction of the new instrument. Japan is no exception.

Presenting part of his PhD research, our speaker will show the exact stages when the policy process froze up, identify the shocks that have led to the replacement of the policy instruments, and analyze what this might mean for the future of renewable energy in Japan. He draws on primary documents and direct interviews with stakeholders involved in the policy process at hand.

Alex Luta is currently finalizing his PhD thesis on comparative renewable energy policy at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. From 2008 to 2010 he conducted research on the topic of Japanese climate policy at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He also writes as a freelancer about the development of Japanese and European electricity and renewable energy policy.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

Sorry for late notice, but the ISS PhD social science workshop will meet at noon on Thursday, Feb 27.* Presenting is Inger Bachmann, a political scientist working on a PhD at Hamburg University. She is winding up her fieldwork as a fellow at DIJ. Inger is researching what Tokyo wards (ku) are doing to encourage social participation by their older residents. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's official policy is to create "an environment where senior citizens can participate in the community in many ways," but implementation is left up to municipalities. Does the recent trend toward decentralization mean that programs increasingly reflect the characteristics of the elderly population of each locality? How can evidence from a limited number of case studies shed light on the dynamics of local government policy development and implementation?

All are welcome. If convenient let me know if you will be coming, at jccamp@umich.edu

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at
12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond.
The Institute
of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is room 533 on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/documents/Hongo_Campu
sMap_E.pdf

--
-----
>From John Creighton Campbell
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
University of Michigan
Visiting Scholar, Institute of Gerontology Tokyo University jccamp at umich.edu

For all the concentration on the possibility of large-scale, spectacular terrorist threats to the world's political and economic centres, most of what happens in urban security is more mundane and small-scale. This talk reflects on several years of work on security and public safety in Tokyo, the world's biggest metropolis, and one of the 'big three'
global cities along with London and New York. In common with most major cities, Tokyo has seen an increase in high-tech surveillance and a reorganization of security in the wake of terrorist attacks, but at street-level, there is still a huge variety of different security practices in different parts of the city, from the most digital to others which would not have been out of place in the nineteenth century and which can seem more like exercises in nostalgia. Underlying this, I argue, is not the fear of global terrorist, but a more pervasive anxiety over socio-economic transformation and the opening of Japan to other kinds of global
flows: trade, migrants and culture, even in this most apparently fast-moving and twenty-first century of Asian cities.

David Murakami Wood is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University and holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Surveillance Studies. He is also currently a JSPS Invitation Fellow in the Department of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University and a Visiting Professor in the Center for Business Information Ethics, Meiji University. His research examines the globalization of surveillance, and focuses on several different global cities, in particular Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and London. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Surveillance and Society, the international journal of surveillance studies, and a founder of the Surveillance Studies Network.

Lecture in English / No registration required

________________________________________
Other ICC events in March
.......................................................
.................................
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents

Social Fragmentation and Sustainability in Palestinian
Communities:
Resilience and Uncertainty in Everyday Life Dr. Joshua RICKARD
(http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/1403
03_Rickard.pdf)

.......................................................
.................................
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture
collaborative research project on the translation and
circulation of "Japanese" texts in the early twentieth
century presents a workshop on

Trajectories of 'Japanese' Texts in the Early Twentieth
Century
(http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/1403
08_Japanese_literature.pdf)

February 19, 2014

[SSJ: 8450] Lectureship in Japanese Economy Leiden University

From: Black, L.O.
Date: 2014/02/19

I would like to bring the following Lectureship in Modern Japanese Economy at Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), http://werkenbij.leidenuniv.nl/vacatures/wetenschappeli
jke-functies/13-378-lectureship-in-modern-japanese-posi
tion.html, to the attention of members of the SSJ Forum. As the advertisement states, applicants with a specialization in the International Political Economy of Japan are also welcome to apply.

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture collaborative research project on the translation and circulation of "Japanese" texts in the early twentieth century presents a workshop on Trajectories of ‘Japanese’ Texts in the Early Twentieth Century

March 8, 2014
13:00-17:30
Sophia University

In this project, we wish to examine various aspects of the global flow of texts, people and ideas related to publications in Japanese or about Japan in the early twentieth century, and to investigate their transnational and/or transcultural possibilities. First, we wish to focus on the early translations of Japanese literature into European and Asian languages between the 1900s and the 1940s. The translation affects the reading and writing of the original literary texts, as writers such as Ōgai Mori were highly conscious of the possibility of their works being translated. Also, we wish to examine how texts of Japanese bilingual writers such as Kakuzō Okakura and Yone Noguchi circulated across national borders, contributing to the construction of the images of Japanese culture within and outside Japan.

We are particularly interested in the role of various institutions involved in the circulation of Japanese texts. For example, new translations of Japanese texts (written in European languages or in translation) were linked with the transformation of academic disciplines related to Asian culture and the rise of Japanese studies in the West in the early twentieth century. The international network of publishers, writers, and institutions (private and governmental) was also significant. We hope to illuminate the roles of these institutions and their networks in the early twentieth century.

Venue:
Room 301, 3F, Building 10
Sophia University Yotsuya Campus

Schedule:

Opening Remark: 13:00

Session 1: 13:10-14:30
・Shion Kono (Sophia University)
“The Hokuseidō Press and the English-language Translation Network in the interwar Japan”
・Kazuhiko Sawada (Saitama University)
“Russian Translations of Japanese Literary Works Published by the South Manchuria Railway Company”

February 18, 2014

To commemorate the 3rd anniversary of 3/11, RJIF will co-host an international symposium “Rethink the risk, governance, and leadership” with University of Tokyo and Development Bank of Japan. The event will bring together business executives, experts and officials to discuss challenges in crisis management and ways of turning uncertainty into business opportunity.

Grant Newsham, Senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo
Moderator:

Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:

icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

East Asia has become a tougher neighborhood in the last several years and friction between Japan and China shows no sign of abating. Japan’s defense policies have consequently shifted towards a more active defense and upgraded Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF) capabilities. This talk will evaluate Japan’s new defense strategies in terms of effectiveness and prospects for regional stability and the US-Japan security alliance.

Speaker

Grant Newsham is a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. He recently served as the first US Marine Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force and was instrumental in the development of the JSDF’s amphibious capability.
He is a former US diplomat and served at the US Embassy, Tokyo, in the 1990’s, returning for a stint
as Marine Attaché. His research focuses on Asian
defense and his articles have been published in the Christian Science Monitor, Daily Yomiuri, Sentaku, and USNI Proceedings.
________________________________

[SSJ: 8446] DIJ Business & Economcis Study Group on March 3: "Fighting the imbalance - Policy holder protection in Japanese Insurance Law-, A comparative Study"

From: Kazue Haga
Date: 2014/02/18

Dear Colleague,

We would like to invite you to the next meeting of the DIJ Business & Economics Study Group of the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ).

It will take place on

Monday, March 3rd, 2014, 6.30 PM

at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.
(For a map refer to http://www.dijtokyo.org/access).

Our speaker will be

Köksal Sahin, Fernuniversitaet Hagen; Institute for Japanese Law

He will offer a presentation on: "Fighting the imbalance - Policy holder protection in Japanese Insurance Law-, A comparative Study"

The new Japanese Insurance Law Act (hoken-hô) was enacted 2008 and got into effect in April 2010. After more than a century, it is the first independent regulation which replaces the former part of the Commercial Code. The Commercial Code did not have any special provisions prescribing so-called consumer protection with respect to insurance contracts.
Insurance companies, however, are private, for-profit, commercial enterprises and sometimes this may cause problems in the relationship with their policy holders.
In addition, the conditions of the policies are unilaterally predetermined by the insurance company based on power, information and resources, so the insured, as the weak party, is merely offered a standard form. With regard to this situation, it is the duty of the legislator to fight this imbalance. The new Act implemented required amendments.

This presentation assesses the policy
holders’protection in the new Insurance Law Act. It gives a quick overview about the past reform and points out how insurance law rules and implemented courts decisions ensure policy holders protection from a comparative point of German Law.

This presentation is part of a dissertation project (working title:
"German principles in Japanese Insurance Law – policy holder protection after the Amendment of 2008").

Köksal Sahin is doctoral candidate of Law at Fernuniversitaet Hagen and Member of the Institute of Japanese Law. He finished his Law Exams at University of Bonn and received his Master of Laws at University of Cologne. He worked for the German Financial Supervisory Authority. His main focus is on Insurance and Company Law.

The presentation will be given in English.

Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register by February 28th at busi.econ-studygroup@dijtokyo.org

February 17, 2014

[SSJ: 8445] ILO : Great East Japan Earthquake recovery talk

From: David H. Slater
Date: 2014/02/17

I am passing this on to the list...

I am writing today in connection with the ILO's forthcoming public event on the Great East Japan Earthquake recovery on 18 February. I would be grateful if you could pass on the info through your network. The meeting is open to anybody (registration required).

We are sharing lessons from the Japan's post-disaster recovery, mainly by focussing on the issue of people's jobs and livelihoods. The public event consists of a symposium and talk event. The venue is U Thant Conference Hall at the United Nations University in Shibuya.

We are particularly keen on having audience from the young generation. We will have a minister of Labour from the Philippines who can introduce ongoing post-Haiyan recovery efforts in the Philippines. The talk event will have dynamic Japanese speakers who have been engaged in community development and business recovery in disaster-affected regions in Tohoku. We are hacing a casual reception afterwards where participants can directly speak to the speakers. Finger food and drinks will be offered.

Date: Friday, March 7, 2014
Time: Door opens at 6:30pm, Program starts at 7:00pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html(access:
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Panelists:
Joe Moross,
Tokyo-based radiation and environmental sensor engineer Sean Bonner, an artist, musician, and tech entrepreneur based in Los Angeles Azby Brown, Director of the KIT Future Design Institute in Tokyo
Moderator:
Kyle Cleveland, ICAS Associate Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

SAFECAST, a non-ideological, non-profit, volunteer-based organization created in the days immediately following the events of March 11, 2011, has become one of the most prominent and reliable independent sources for radiation data in Japan and abroad. In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, concerns about radiation exposure continue to fester, with low public confidence in government and industry statements that the nuclear fallout does not pose a significant risk to public health. Despite highly-publicized official medical and scientific findings that suggest that future health risks will be low, the general public remains worried about the impact of long-term exposure, and lacking faith in government reassurances, have increasingly turned to alternative sources of information like SAFECAST.

Until recently, radiation measurement on a large scale has presented high technical, financial, and political barriers to entry. In an attempt to fill the acute information vacuum about the severity of the fallout, SAFECAST quickly began to field mobile detectors of its own design, which leveraged open-source software and hardware and new-generation DIY tools such as laser cutters and custom PCB fabrication to dramatically accelerate development and deployment time. The group simultaneously developed an information management system that allows GPS-tagged radiation data points to be uploaded into a central database and displayed on an interactive web-based map. SAFECAST's radiation information system has seen the rapid deployment no fewer than seven increasingly refined GPS-enabled mobile radiation detector designs, called "bGeigies,"
the web-based "GeoSense" map, a free iOS-based map application, and other devices and software, all developed by volunteers and made freely available through Creative Commons licenses.

The radiation data gathered by SAFECAST volunteers in Japan and abroad currently exceeds 15 million data points, arguably the most extensive public data set of its kind. It was soon hailed as a technically competent, credible, and objective source of radiation information for Japan by specialists on both sides of the nuclear power debate. Though relations between third-party monitoring groups and government and official regulatory bodies is generally characterized by mutual distrust, SAFECAST's input has increasingly been sought by both local governments in Japan and regulatory agencies abroad, a tacit admission of the inadequacy of official efforts. The group was recently invited to share their methodology and their criticisms at the IAEA's International Experts Meeting on Radiation Protection after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident in Vienna.

For this event, a panel of Safecast volunteers will discuss the state of radiation monitoring and communication three years after the start of the Fukushima disaster, describe the challenges they have faced in cultivating and maintaining an active and independent global network of volunteers, and report on the reception their critique received from the IAEA.

Joe Moross is a Tokyo-based radiation and environmental sensor engineer, and was formerly senior engineer in charge of radiation safety for the linear accelerator facility of the National Institute for Research in Inorganic Materials in Tsukuba.

Sean Bonner, a founding member of SAFECAST, is an artist, musician, and tech entrepreneur based in Los Angeles.

Azby Brown is an architect, designer, and author, and is Director of the KIT Future Design Institute in Tokyo.

February 14, 2014

[SSJ: 8443] [CANCELLATION] Temple ICAS Event Feb.14

From: ICAS
Date: 2014/02/14

Dear SSJ Forum,

Thank you for your support for Temple ICAS programs.
Due to the weather condition, we will cancel tonight's event "Yves Henocque: Who governs the sea? Ways toward future forms of governance", and reschedule in the near future.

Thank you again for your interest in the ICAS programs and look forward to having you next time.

February 13, 2014

* Please note that this lecture will be at TUJ Mita Hall.
==================
Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki: Japan US relations - Now and Future ==================

Date: Monday, March 10, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F
(access:
http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Ichiro Fujisaki, President, America-Japan Society, Distinguished Professor, Chairman of International Strategies, Sophia University and Distinguished Professor, Keio University
Moderator:
Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview
:

As president Obama prepares for his planned April visit to Asia, we are fortunate to host Ambassador Fujisaki, who will discuss the present and future of relations between Japan and the United States.

Speaker
:

Ambassador Fujisaki joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1969, served in numerous countries, was Director General for North American Affairs, Deputy Foreign Minister, ambassador to the UN and WTO in Geneva and retired after serving as Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2012.

The primary pathways through which environmentally persistent radioactive substances enter people’s bodies is food. After 3.11 Japanese authorities and scientists were unable to provide clear guidelines on possible effects of internal radiation. They took weeks to set up a monitoring system. In response to this, many citizens took matters into their own hands to monitor food and measure the level of contamination. This talk analyzes citizen radiation measuring stations and their role in filling the critical knowledge gaps on food safety issues after the nuclear accident.

Theoretically, this paper analyzes the citizen radiation measuring stations as an instance of citizen science, and explores its relation to science governance and democracy. It asks who the “citizens”
were in citizen science in post 3.11 Japan. The question of representation in scientific matters is central here. Who was deemed the right kind of person to talk about the issue of food contamination? The notion of “citizen” emerged as a counterpart to experts, but who could actually fulfill the idealized role of a citizen was heavily contested. In this limited space, women found the symbolic power of “mother” as an ideal-type citizen. The talk also explores the complicated terrain of the maternal representation in the history of anti-nuclear movements in Japan.

Aya H. Kimura is Professor of Women’s Studies at University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She is currently a visiting researcher at Doshisha University. She specializes in feminist STS and agrofood studies. She is the author of Hidden Hunger: Gender and Politics of Smarter Food (Cornell University Press, 2013) and several articles on Japanese food politics.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 18.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free; please register at:
forum@dijtokyo.org or
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

February 12, 2014

[SSJ: 8440] Business History Society of Japan's 50th Anniversary Congress

From: Julia Yongue
Date: 2014/02/12

Subject: Conference/Call for Papers Announcement Business History Society of Japan's 50th Anniversary Congress Deadline for proposal submissions: February 28, 2014

Dear Colleagues:
The Business History Society of Japan will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2014. To commemorate this milestone, the organization will hold a special Congress on the theme of "Competition and Cooperation,"
focusing on the many facets of the three industrial revolutions-why they came about, how they developed, and what distinguishes them from one another-and the new ventures that business history scholars need to undertake in order to grasp the significance of new business systems. The general session on the main theme, titled "New Horizons in Business History," will bring together renowned researchers from Japan, Europe, the United States, and Asia to give keynote lectures on challenges facing the discipline and ideal approaches for future progress. The Congress will take place at Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, on September 11-13, 2014.

Given the 50th anniversary and the increasingly powerful role that globalization continues to play in the realm of research, the BHSJ has decided to schedule English-language sessions on each of the three days.
With a scope that encompasses the socioeconomic environment of the entire world, these English sessions will look at why and how "competition and cooperation"
within companies, between companies, between companies and government, between companies and other social organizations, and between countries have changed. The BHSJ invites submissions of not only individual, independent papers but also session-specific reports as well. The BHSJ also welcomes any papers that, while not focused specifically on the theme of "competition and cooperation," deal in some capacity with the pursuit of new horizons in business history research.

For paper proposals, please submit a title, an abstract of no more than 400 words along with a one-page CV to a-terada@bgu.ac.jp by February 28, 2014. Session proposals should include a brief abstract of the session along with a one-page abstract and one-page CV for each participant. For more information, please see the BHSJ call for papers website.
http://bhs.ssoj.info/bhsj-e/BHSJ_50th_congress

[SSJ: 8439] "The Great Transformation of Japanese Capitalism" - Announcing a new publication

From: Lechevalier Sebastien
Date: 2014/02/12

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the publication of "The Great Transformation of Japanese Capitalism" (edited by S.
Lechevalier, translated by J. A. A. Stockwin; Routledge, 2014).
Please find below a description of the book.

Description
In the 1980s the performance of Japan’s economy was an international success story, and led many economists to suggest that the 1990s would be a Japanese decade.
Today, however, the dominant view is that Japan is inescapably on a downward slope. Rather than focusing on the evolution of the performance of Japanese capitalism, this book reflects on the changes that it has experienced over the past 30 years, and presents a comprehensive analysis of the great transformation of Japanese capitalism from the heights of the 1980s, through the lost decades of the 1990s, and well into the 21st century.
This book posits an alternative analysis of the Japanese economic trajectory since the early 1980s, and argues that whereas policies inspired by neo-liberalism have been presented as a solution to the Japanese crisis, these policies have in fact been one of the causes of the problems that Japan has faced over the past 30 years. Crucially, this book seeks to understand the institutional and organisational changes that have characterised Japanese capitalism since the 1980s, and to highlight in comparative perspective, with reference to the ‘neo-liberal moment’, the nature of the transformation of Japanese capitalism. Indeed, the arguments presented in this book go well beyond Japan itself, and examine the diversity of capitalism, notably in continental Europe, which has experienced problems that in many ways are also comparable to those of Japan.
The Great Transformation of Japanese Capitalism will appeal to students and scholars of both Japanese politics and economics, as well as those interested in comparative political economy.

Contents
Preface, Sébastien Lechevalier
Foreword: From ‘Japanophilia’ to Indifference? Three decades of research on contemporary Japan, Robert Boyer

Introduction: Seven Japanese Lessons on the Diversity of Capitalism and its Future, Sébastien Lechevalier 1. Thirty Years of Neo-Liberal Reforms in Japan, Yves Tiberghien 2. Is this the End of the J-Model of the Firm?, Sébastien Lechevalier 3. Is Japanese capitalism still coordinated?, Sébastien Lechevalier 4. What is the Nature of the Japanese Social Compromise Today?, Sébastien Lechevalier 5. Which education system in a neoliberal world?, Sébastien Lechevalier and Arnaud Nanta 6. Is convergence towards the Silicon Valley model the only way for the Japanese innovation system?, Sébastien Lechevalier 7. Should Japanese capitalism adapt itself to globalization?, Sébastien Lechevalier Conclusion, Sébastien Lechevalier

February 11, 2014

Please find below the program of the ICU Social Science Research Institute symposium on "Political Violence, Human Security and the Civilizing Process" with keynote speaker Professor Andrew Linklater, the Woodrow Wilson Chair of International Politics at the University of Aberystwyth (UK).
All are welcome.

Professor Andrew LINKLATER is Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Politics, University of Aberystwyth, UK. Professor Linklater has been one of the most innovative thinkers in International Relations, introducing critical and ethical elements into the discipline which has forced it to rethink many of its basic assumptions. Educated at Aberdeen, Oxford and the London School of Economics (LSE), he joined the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth as the 10th Woodrow Wilson Professor in January 2000.
Author of numerous books and journal articles on International Relations, Professor Linklater is probably best known for the following works: Men and Citizens in the Theory of International Relations (Macmillan 1982); Beyond Realism and Marxism: Critical Theory and International Relations (1990); The Transformation of Political Community: Ethical Foundations of the Post-Westphalian Era, (Polity Press 1998); and Critical Theory and World Politics:
Sovereignty, Citizenship and Humanity (Routledge 2007).
In 2006, he also jointly authored, with Hidemi Suganami, The English School of International
Relations: A Contemporary Reassessment (Cambridge University Press). He is currently completing a three volume series on the problem of harm in world politics.
The first volume, The Problem of Harm in World
Politics: Theoretical Investigations was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011 and the second Harm in World History will be out soon.

Dr. Giorgio SHANI is Director of the Social Science Research Institute and Senior Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. He is author of Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age (Routledge 2007) and co-editor of Protecting Human Security in a Post 9/11 World (Palgrave 2007).
Recently, he served as Chair of the Global Development Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) and has just finished a book on Religion, Identity and Human Security (Routledge April 2014) which forms the basis of this presentation.

Since conventional theories and concepts of Human Resource Management (HRM), were mainly developed in Western countries, this colloquium focuses on theoretical and empirical contributions from Asia to the management of human resources. Although the term ‘Asia’ is used in this text, the colloquium focuses on Northeast and Southeast Asia. In more detail the colloquium attempts to explore primarily the distinctive contextual factors of contemporary HRM in Asia, as well as HRM phenomena and approaches applied by Asian firms in Asia and in non-Asian countries, by Western firms in Asia or by Asian-Western firm alliances in Asia. We have observed that within-country company variations and within-Asia country variations in HRM are getting wider. At the same time, many multinational companies operating in Asia have made efforts to globally benchmark best HRM practices.
Hereby the overarching debate on HRM in Asia, whether it will converge, diverge or develop towards a hybrid form shall play a primary role as well as selected themes of contemporary HRM issues such as diversity management, international talent management and performance management. Through this colloquium we also explore Asia-specific HRM principles and practices that can replace, modify, or supplement Western HRM theories. Hence we attempt to enlarge the scope and enrich the interpretation of HRM phenomena.

We seek in particular contributions that challenge conventional theories and knowledge on HRM and reveal distinctive features of HRM in Asia or particular forms of Asian HRM. Contributions should fit but are not limited to the following themes of HRM:

Contributions may be comparative or apply single country analysis. Studies that draw on approaches of indigenous management research are welcome in particular. A range of empirical methods will be considered. Contributions should be based on sound empirical analysis using quantitative, qualitative, experimental, meta analysis or case studies.
Ethnographical studies as well as conceptual works are also welcome.

Papers should be a maximum of 8000 words in length (inclusive of all material, such as tables, figures, attachments and reference list, etc.). Extended abstracts (ca. 800 words) may be submitted for empirical research currently in process. Preference will be given to the most polished papers.

Outstanding contributions will be selected for publication in a Special Issue of the International Journal of Human Resource Management. The SI editors will select papers based on fit with the conference theme which will be the title of the SI. Selected studies will undergo a double blind peer review process.

Style Guide
Submissions to the Paris Colloquium should follow the style guide applicable for submission to the International Journal of Human Resource Management.
Details can be downloaded from the Journal website at Taylor & Fancis Online.
(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?jou
rnalCode=rijh20&page=instructions)

All contributions should be submitted to the Colloquium
Secretary:
Sandrine Clais, ISC Paris Business School, Paris, France, Email: sclais@iscparis.com

February 09, 2014

I would like to draw your attention once more to the call for papers for the annual conference of the Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, which will convene in Helsinki in March this year. The format of this conference is very beneficial for those who look for feedback on their research from Japan specialists in various disciplines. The accepted papers are read beforehand by all participants and most of the conference is dedicated to discussion of the papers, both by selected discussants and by the other participants.

Best regards,

Dick Stegewerns
University of Oslo

REMINDER: CALL FOR PAPERS

NAJS 2014 - The Tenth NAJS Conference on the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, March 20-21, 2014, Helsinki, Finland.

You are most welcome to the Tenth Annual NAJS Conference. The conference will take place at the University of Helsinki.

We invite paper proposals on a broad set of topics related to Japanese society and culture, past and present, including politics and international relations, economy and business, sociology and anthropology, popular culture, literature, religion, and art.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts has been extended to February 15, 2014 (Sat)

Registration forms and more information about the conference can be found on the NAJS website:
http://nordicjapan.wordpress.com

Please carefully read the guidelines for participation (also on the
website) before registering and sending your abstract.

Deadline for full papers: March 10, 2014 (Mon)

Please submit abstracts and papers to:
bart.gaens@helsinki.fi
You will be notified if your abstract has been accepted by February 20, 2014.

The Steering Committee of NAJS
(Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society)

This talk will focus on social cohesion and community stability in the Palestinian city of Nablus. Nablus was under military siege throughout the period of the second intifada (2000-2006) during which time people were unable to leave their neighbourhoods and in many cases were confined to their homes for extended periods of time. Strict restrictions also inhibited the movement of people, products and information from one area to another. In order to facilitate local stability, communities had to develop social networks either based on political movements or kinship ties, these also became significant factors in the formation of local identities. By looking at examples of how some communities dealing with the adverse conditions of long-term isolation were resilient in coping, and others were not, this will offer insight into the differences in social and logistical situations between various communities that contributed to their organisation in endurance. Finally, this will look at recent changes since the end of the second intifada and the presence of external actors in facilitating development projects, this will raise questions in attempts to explain how Nablus area communities which were recently able to maintain a minimum level of self-sufficiency, are now facing increasing social fragmentation.

Joshua Rickard holds a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Kent at Canterbury. He has carried out fieldwork in Nablus, Palestine since 2007 and is currently a research fellow in the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore where he is working on a book project: Divided Identities:
The Systematic Social Fragmentation of Palestinian Society. Prior to engaging in academic research he worked as a photographer and journalist, and continues to incorporate visual imagery into his work. His main areas of interest are social cohesion, community identity, civil participation and political mobilisation.

[SSJ: 8434] Invitation to the EIJS Academy seminar, February 26

"Challenges for Japanese Corporate Governance in the Age of Globalization"

Speaker: Professor Bruce Aronson
Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy Hitotsubashi University

About the speaker: Professor Aronson is a professor of law at Hitotsubashi University’s Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1977. Professor Aronson was a corporate partner at the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York (1989-2000) and a professor of law at Creighton University (2004-2013).
He has also engaged in research and teaching at a number of U.S. law schools including Columbia (2002-2004), Michigan (2004), Boston University, and Georgetown. His experience in Japan includes research as a Senior Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Tokyo (2000-2002) and at Waseda University (2011-2013), the first holder of the Chair on International Capital Markets Law at the University of Tokyo (2004), and a Visiting Scholar at the Bank of Japan (2010). His main area of research is comparative corporate governance with a focus on Japan. He also acts as an advisor to the law firm of Nagashima Ohno &
Tsunematsu.

About the talk: Globalization of financial markets has led to increasingly stronger calls from global institutional investors for Japanese companies to expand the use of independent directors and strengthen the board’s monitoring function. At the same time, the growth and internationalization of the business operations of Japanese companies is testing the limits of the traditional Japanese management and governance structure. How can Japanese companies adapt their corporate governance system to these demands?
Professor Aronson will discuss the responses of Japanese companies to these challenges, and will highlight ongoing experimentation at a number of leading Japanese companies to develop a “mixed” or “hybrid” system that seeks to incorporate more effective monitoring of management into the traditional
Japanese corporate structure.

February 06, 2014

You are cordially invited to our Joint DIJ Social Science and Business & Economics Study Group at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo.

New approaches to elderly care and senior citizens engagement Findings from fieldwork in Japans metropolitan area

It will take place on

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014, 6.30 PM

at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.

This study group is based on the following two separate talks which will be held consecutively:

---
Workers Collectives as Care providers - The case of Kanagawa

Sebastian Hofstetter (MLU Halle-Wittenberg)

Sociologist Ueno Chizuko has pointed out an ongoing development of a “socia lization of care” (kea no shakaika). According to this theory “careservice”
in all its varieties is increasingly offered by “workers collectives” on a community level (chiiki).
“Workers Collectives” seem to draw on differen t resources in the area of elderly care. Unlike regular forms of care servic es Workers Collectives are located somewhere between the market and third se ctor, as well as between public and private sphere. According to Evers
(2013
) this mix of usually clearly disconnected spheres is called “hybridization”, which enables Workers Collectives to establish a new way of caring for and about elderly Japanese. By highlighting the specifics of this so called welf are-mix, I show how Workers Collectives shape new ideas and concepts of elde rly care. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in Kanagawa Prefecture, t hese talk shows which role Workers Collectives take on in offering an innova tive care concept.

Sebastian Hofstetter is a doctoral candidate of Japanese studies at the MLU of Halle-Wittenberg. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Japanese studies at Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Governments “Tokyo 2020 Vision”
declares to “build and show the world an urban model for a society with a low birthrate and ag ing population”, with the ambition to create “an environment where senior citizens can participate in the community in many ways […]” (TMG, 2012). T he 23 special wards (ku) that represent central Tokyo differ significantly i n size, population and demographic structure and thus provide different envi ronments for senior citizens participation. Drawing on material of the local ward offices and interviews with ward officials regarding selected flagship projects, this talk will discuss different approaches implementing the Toky o 2020 Vision in selected Tokyo special wards.

Inger Maleen Bachmann is a PhD candidate of Japanese Studies at Hamburg University, where she received her M.A in Japanese Studies and Political Science. She is currently conducting field research as a scholarship fellow at the DIJ Tokyo.

---

The presentations will be given in English.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.
The DIJ Business and Economics Study Group is organized by K. Haga, F.
Kohlbacher and
T. Tiefenbach.

All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

[SSJ: 8432] Reminder: DIJ Social Science Study Group, Thursday, February 13: The Impact of 3-11 on Japanese Public Opinion toward Energy

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/02/06

This is to remind you that you are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on THURSDAY, February 13, 18.30:

Paul Midford, University of Science and Technology,
Trondheim:

The Impact of 3-11 on Japanese Public Opinion toward Energy

This presentation examines how the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and especially the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant of March 2011, have affected public opinion, and how this in turn has impacted Japan’s energy policy. It traces how Japanese public opinion emerged as being perhaps the most pro-nuclear public in the world in the 1970s, and how public support gradually eroded from the end of the 1970s as concerns about safety grew. Growing public concern after the 1986 Chernobyl accident and especially the 1999 Tokaimura accident, corresponded with significant reverses, and eventual stagnation, in Japan’s policy of promoting nuclear power. In the years leading up to 3-11 Japanese public opinion continued to support nuclear power, but support was accompanied by growing concerns about the safety of nuclear power. Cover ups of accidents especially undermined trust in the industry. In the wake of the
3-11 quake public support for nuclear power, which was still evenly divided as late as April 2011, gradually declined while support for replacing nuclear power with renewable forms of energy, especially solar and wind, grew. This reflected a change in underlying attitudes about the safety and effectiveness of nuclear power.
Consequently, an overwhelming majority has come to support replacing nuclear power with renewable energy.
Yet, the public is more ambivalent about restarting some nuclear reactors in the short-run, with a significant minority that verges on a plurality in some polls supporting some nuclear restarts under stringent conditions. This suggests that the Abe administration has some scope to restart some nuclear reactors, but not to build new reactors or expand nuclear power.

Paul Midford is Professor, and Director of the Japan Program, at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He received his doctorate in Political Science from Columbia University. Midford is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Stanford University Press, 2011).

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

February 03, 2014

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by David Chiavacci, University of Zurich

Gateways to Japan: Patterns of Socio-Economic Integration and Exclusion of New Immigrants Thursday, February 13, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT
The share of foreign residents in current Japan is with less than two percent still low in international comparison. Still, since the late 1980s, Japan has had a significant and continuous inflow of new immigrants.
Today, Japan is an immigration country with an increasing ethnic diversity. And in view of its long-term demographic development, the introduction of an active immigration policy is a recurrent topic in policy circles and public discussions since the late 1990s. This talk analyses the patterns and experiences of socio-economic integration and exclusion of these new immigrants in Japanese society. It focuses on a comparative analysis of Chinese immigrants and nikkeijin (return migrants of Japanese origin from South America) as the two largest groups among the new immigrants. By applying established theoretical models of inclusion and exclusion in a national context as well as recent approaches on transnational links as another mean of socio-economic integration, it finds large differences in the case of the two ethnic minorities. On the one hand, the Chinese minority is marked by an internal diversity including successful ethnic entrepreneurs as well as marginalized trainees.
While for the successful Chinese entrepreneurs a transnational path of socio-economic integration is accessible, Chinese trainees are embedded into Japan's foreign trainee system as a kind of total
(transnational) institution. On the other hand, the nikkeijin are segregated into indirect short-term employment and not fully incorporated into social security systems. Although they achieve a decent income, they face a high risk of poverty in old age.
Moreover, in view of the low school achievements of their children, the nikkeijin are on the path to become a precarious underclass. The talk will conclude with a discussion of the factors leading to these diverse patterns among new immigrants and comparing their experiences with Korean immigrants of the colonial era and their descendants in Japan.

SPEAKER
David Chiavacci is Mercator Professor in Social Science of Japan at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His research covers economic sociology, political sociology and sociology of knowledge of contemporary Japan. His newer publications on immigration and integration in Japan include “Japan in the ‘Global War for Talent’:
Changing Concepts of Valuable Foreign Workers and Their Consequences”, in Asien: The German Journal of Contemporary Asia, 123 (2012): 27-47 and “Immigration and ‘Gap Society’ in Japan: Are Foreign Workers a New Underclass?”, in: György Széll and Ute Széll (eds.), Quality of Life & Working Life in Comparison,
Frankfurt: Peter Lang, pp. 347-368.

Contemporary Japan Group
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, please visit our website:
http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/
or contact
Gregory W. NOBLE (noble@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

January 31, 2014

[SSJ: 8430] Member Publication: Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Systems

From: Michael A. Witt
Date: 2014/01/31

Dear colleagues:

I am delighted to announce the publication of the Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Studies (752 pages, Oxford U Press, Ed. Witt and Redding). It should be useful for scholars of comparative politics and international business, and especially for colleagues working on comparative institutional analyses in the vein of Varieties of Capitalism (Hall and Soskice) or Comparative Business Systems (Whitley).

A brief description:

Much of the existing literature within the "varieties of capitalism" (VOC) and "comparative business systems"
fields of research is heavily focused on Europe, Japan, and the Anglo-Saxon nations. As a result, the field has yet to produce a detailed empirical picture of the institutional structures of most Asian nations and to explore to what extent existing theory applies to the Asian context.

The Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Systems aims to address this imbalance by exploring the shape and consequences of institutional variations across the political economies of different societies within Asia.
Drawing on the deep knowledge of 31 leading experts, this book presents an empirical, comparative institutional analysis of 13 major Asian business systems between India and Japan. To aid comparison, each country chapter follows the same consistent outline. Complementing the country chapters are eleven contributions examining major themes across the region in comparative perspective and linking the empirical picture to existing theory on these themes. A further three chapters provide perspectives on the influence of history and institutional change. The concluding chapters spell out the implications of all these chapters for scholars in the field and for business practitioners in Asia.

Japan is obviously given its due in the book.

Further information is available here:
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199654925.do

January 27, 2014

Dear subscriber!
The DFG Research Training Group (Graduierten Kolleg)
1613-2 Risk and East Asia at the Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST), University Duisburg-Essen invites applications to its English-language doctoral program from candidates with good language skills in Chinese or Japanese, and a strong MA (or equivalent) degree in Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and Geography or in social scientific East Asian Regional Studies. Application deadline is March 1, 2014.

[SSJ: 8428] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, February 13: The Impact of 3-11 on Japanese Public Opinion toward Energy

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/01/27

You are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, February 13, 18.30:

Paul Midford, University of Science and Technology,
Trondheim:

The Impact of 3-11 on Japanese Public Opinion toward Energy

This presentation examines how the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and especially the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant of March 2011, have affected public opinion, and how this in turn has impacted Japan’s energy policy. It traces how Japanese public opinion emerged as being perhaps the most pro-nuclear public in the world in the 1970s, and how public support gradually eroded from the end of the 1970s as concerns about safety grew. Growing public concern after the 1986 Chernobyl accident and especially the 1999 Tokaimura accident, corresponded with significant reverses, and eventual stagnation, in Japan’s policy of promoting nuclear power. In the years leading up to 3-11 Japanese public opinion continued to support nuclear power, but support was accompanied by growing concerns about the safety of nuclear power. Cover ups of accidents especially undermined trust in the industry. In the wake of the
3-11 quake public support for nuclear power, which was still evenly divided as late as April 2011, gradually declined while support for replacing nuclear power with renewable forms of energy, especially solar and wind, grew. This reflected a change in underlying attitudes about the safety and effectiveness of nuclear power.
Consequently, an overwhelming majority has come to support replacing nuclear power with renewable energy.
Yet, the public is more ambivalent about restarting some nuclear reactors in the short-run, with a significant minority that verges on a plurality in some polls supporting some nuclear restarts under stringent conditions. This suggests that the Abe administration has some scope to restart some nuclear reactors, but not to build new reactors or expand nuclear power.

Paul Midford is Professor, and Director of the Japan Program, at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He received his doctorate in Political Science from Columbia University. Midford is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Stanford University Press, 2011).

Please be also reminded of our upcoming DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, January 29, 18.30:

Aline Henninger, INALCO, Waseda University:

Gender socialization at primary school in contemporary Japan

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

January 25, 2014

[SSJ: 8427] symposium in Osaka: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Asia-Pacific Region: History and Prospect

From: Yoneyuki Sugita
Date: 2014/01/25

subject: symposium in Osaka: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Asia-Pacific Region: History and Prospect

Dear Colleagues:

Osaka University is to hold an international symposium from 14 through
16 February 2014 at the Toyonaka Campus, Osaka University, Osaka Japan
Details:
http://sugita.us/symposium.htm

This symposium is not open to the public. Only registered people (free of charge) may participate in the symposium.
If you are interested in becoming a commentator or just participate in the symposium, please send me the following information:
1. Affiliation
2. Name
(send to: Yone sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp)

We also have graduate students sessions. If you are interested, please let me know.

January 24, 2014

The Faculty of Liberal Arts at Sophia University is searching for a part-time lecturer for a course titled "Culture & Identity" for the 2014 Spring semester. This is an anthropology lecture class for undergraduates and is taught in English. Each class is 1.5 hours and the course meets twice a week for 14 weeks, between April 12th and July 30th.

The instructor may cover any materials and topics of his or her choice, but will be asked to teach at an introductory level about any topic related to the issue of culture and identity. We welcome ABD and postdoctoral students, as well as scholars, who are seeking adjunct teaching in Tokyo.

Interested applicants are requested to email a CV as soon as possible to Takehiro Watanabe at watan-ta@sophia.ac.jp. The review of applications will begin immediately and the search will end when the position is filled.

[SSJ: 8425] Visitor in East Asian Politics

From: Haddad, Mary Alice
Date: 2014/01/24

Dear Colleagues,

I am on sabbatical next year (yippi!), and we are searching for a one-year visitor in East Asian politics to replace me. Wesleyan University in Middletown CT, USA, is a top liberal arts institution with very smart, engaging undergraduate students. We have a great record of our visitors getting very good tenure-track jobs after working for us. If you know of any appropriate people, please pass this email on to them.

The Department of Government at Wesleyan University seeks applicants for a one-year visiting position
(2014-15) in the comparative politics of East Asia. The teaching load is 3-2. In the Fall 2014, the successful candidate will teach two sections (limited to 19 students each) of Democracy and Dictatorship (an introductory comparative politics course), plus a seminar involving East Asia (limited to 15 students).
In the Spring 2015, the successful candidate will teach a survey course on the Political Economy of Developing Countries (limited to 25 students) plus an additional survey course involving East Asia (limited to 25 students). The successful candidate will also be asked to supervise up to two senior theses and will be invited to participate in activities taking place during the inaugural year of Wesleyan's new College of East Asian Studies.

For the full ad and to apply, please click here:
http://careers.wesleyan.edu/postings/4209

The recent upsurge in concern about hate speech has largely focused on a relatively new right-wing group, the Zaitokukai, short for ‘Zainichi Tokken o Yurusanai Shimin no Kai’, meaning ‘the Citizen’s Association that rejects special privileges for Japan-resident (Koreans)’. Officially, this organization has the limited and specific objective of eliminating the legal apparatus which gives special privileges to members of Japan’s Korean community. This is one face of the
Zaitokukai: a pressure group lobbying for the correction of what it sees as a social injustice.
The other face of Zaitokukai is the violent hatred expressed against Koreans in street demonstrations, deliberately held in urban districts with large Korean populations, describing Koreans as vermin, calling for them to be killed, and displaying fascist symbols. The leadership of Zaitokukai has not distanced itself from these extremist displays. Clearly we need to look at events on the street, considering not only the meaning of words, but also the way they are uttered, the places where they are heard, and non-verbal expressions such as flags and placards.
But we also need to examine the Zaitokukai’s official face. Though the stress on removing special privileges may be a cynical ploy to gain political respectability, the fact remains that the Japanese state’s creation of the category of “special permanent resident” (tokubetsu eijūsha), and its almost-exclusive application to Japan’s pre-war Korean minority and their descendants, has made Koreans an easier target for the Zaitokukai.
We need to study the Korean minority in Japan, what their ‘privileges’ are, how they were won and why they are controversial now.

Tom Gill is Professor of Social Anthropology at the Faculty of International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1996). His research interests include casual labour, poverty, minority issues and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. He is the author of Men of Uncertainty: the Social Organization of Day Laborers in Contemporary Japan (2001), translator of Yasunori Fukuoka’s Lives of Young Koreans in Japan (2000) and co-editor of Japan Copes with Calamity: Ethnographies of the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disasters of March 2011 (2013).

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 7.00 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free; please register at:
forum@dijtokyo.org or
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

[SSJ: 8423] [Temple U. ICAS Event] 19 FEB 2014 Blast from the Past? A Closer Look at the Rise of Japan's Political Right

From: ICAS
Date: 2014/01/22

* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Blast from the Past? A Closer Look at the Rise of Japan's Political Right ==============
Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall
212/213
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Chris Winkler, Senior research fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) in Tokyo
Moderator:
Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
==============

Overview

Following the LDP’s landslide victories at the Lower and Upper House elections in 2012 and 2013 as well as the return of Shinzo Abe as party president and Prime Minister, many observers at home and abroad have warned about Japan drifting to the right. Constitutional reform, restriction of fundamental human rights, a more assertive defense policy and historical revision are seen as key manifestations of this ongoing trend. This talk will address these issues by placing them in the context of postwar party history and political thought.

Speaker

Chris Winkler is senior research fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) in Tokyo. His research interests include postwar political history and party manifestos. He is author of "The Quest for Japan's New Constitution" (Routledge, 2010). His articles have been published in Social Science Japan Journal and Japan Forum.
________________________________

[SSJ: 8422] TOHOKU DISASTER BOOK TOKYO LAUNCH

With apologies for cross-posting
TOHOKU DISASTER BOOK BREAK AT THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB OF JAPAN IN TOKYO, 31 JAN 2014

>From Tom Gill, Faculty of International Studies, Meiji
Gakuin University

Dear friends,

It has been nearly three years since 3.11, but as anyone following the news will know, the Great Tohoku Disasters are very far from over.
The book "Japan Copes with Calamity: Ethnographies of the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disasters of March 2011," which I co-edited with Brigitte Steger and David Slater, published by Peter Lang, will get its formal Japan launch at an event in Tokyo on Friday January 31.
The venue is the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan and the event kicks off at 6.15pm, ending 8.30pm. There will be short presentations by five of the chapter authors - David Slater, Yoko Ikeda, Nathan Peterson, David McNeill and myself. There will also be cocktails and dinner. It costs 2,000 yen to attend, and unless you are a member of the FCCJ, you will need to be signed in by myself. So if you are interested in attending, please write to me at tpgill(at)yahoo.com.
Places are limited; I can't promise to get everybody in, but will do my best.
If you have never been to the FCCJ, it is well worth a visit, not least for the panoramic view of Tokyo you get from its nest on the top floor of the Yurakucho Denki Building. Copies of the book will be on sale at a 30% discount (4,500 yen; currently 7,000 yen on Amazon) and you can get them signed by half the authors if you wish.
The deadline for registering is a week in advance - Friday, January 24, i.e. this Friday. Places cancelled less than 24 hours before the event will have to be paid for. by me... so please, please avoid doing that.
This should be a very lively event, I do believe. Check out the details here:

* Tom Gill/Brigitte Steger/David H. Slater: 'The 3.11 Disasters'
* David H. Slater: 'Urgent Ethnography'
* Brigitte Steger: 'Solidarity and Distinction through Practices of Cleanliness in Tsunami Evacuation Shelters in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture'
* Nathan J. Peterson: 'Adapting Religious Practice in Response to Disaster in Iwate Prefecture'
* Johannes Wilhelm and Alyne Delaney: 'No Homes, No Boats, No Rafts: Miyagi Coastal People in the Aftermath of Disaster'
* David McNeill: 'Them versus Us: Japanese and International Reporting of the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis'
* Ikeda Yoko: 'The Construction of Risk and the Resilience of Fukushima in the Aftermath of the Nuclear Power Plant Accident'
* Morioka Rika: 'Mother Courage: Women as Activists between a Passive Populace and a Paralyzed Government'
* Tom Gill: 'This Spoiled Soil: Place, People and Community in an Irradiated Village in Fukushima Prefecture'
* Tuukka Toivonen: 'Youth for 3.11 and the Challenge of Dispatching Young Urban Volunteers to North-eastern Japan'
* David H. Slater: 'Moralities of Volunteer Aid: The Permutations of Gifts and their Reciprocals.'
* Brigitte Steger: Epilogue: 'Still Missing.'

A Japanese edition of the book, Higashi-Nihon Dai-Shinsai no Jinruigaku: Tsunami, genpatsu jiko to hisaishatachi no 'sono go' (Anthropology of the Great Eastern Japan Disaster: The tsunami, the nuclear accident and what happened next to the victims) has also been published, by Jinbun Sho'in of Kyoto.
http://www.jimbunshoin.co.jp/book/b108281.html

[SSJ: 8421] Reminder: Funding Opportunities for PhD Study at the University of Sheffield

From: Katherine Gallagher
Date: 2014/01/22

Dear all,

The School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) at The University of Sheffield would like to invite applications for postgraduate scholarships for 2014/15 entry starting from 1 October 2014.
SEAS offers single country supervision on China, Japan and Korea as well as transnational processes and linkages. Applications covering both social science and humanities topics are welcome.

Please see our webpage for details:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/seas/researchdegrees/furtherinfo

The deadline for applications is 12pm on Monday 3 February 2014.
Late applications will not be accepted.

Shinzo Abe’s pilgrimage to Yasukuni rekindled stereotypes of a hawkish Japan. These were reinforced by the fanfare surrounding the newNational Security Strategy and defense plans.

The rationale for a much stronger SDF exists. One does not need to be paranoid to be very concerned about China. Moreover, since the 1950s, Japan has relied on a combination of its own and American forces for protection. But for some time there have been doubts in Tokyo about U.S. reliability, as illustrated by the disagreement over the response to China’s Air Defense Identification Zone. These concerns partially stem from doubts about the Obama Administration. The previous president pivoted towards unwinnable campaigns in Southwest Asia, to the great benefit of China, as well as Iran and Al-Qaeda. The curtain call was a doomed deal with Pyongyang. But, due to the well-known “Japan hands” on the Bush team, some Japanese miss the Republicans.

Americans are indeed sick and tired of war.
Isolationism is rising. The Pentagon is on a diet (though hardly starving). It is now harder to call on Americans, to paraphrase Shakespeare, to rouse yourselves “as did the former lions of your blood.”
(Exeter in Henry V). Though doubts about the U.S.
willingness and ability to act are much exaggerated, the American umbrella appears less formidable.

We would thus expect Japan to beef up its defenses, but its goal is an underwhelming rise in funding of less than 5 percent (some say 2 percent) for the next five years. With the depreciated “Abenomics yen,” some (maybe most) of the additional monies will pay bigger bills for fuel and foreign equipment. New initiatives may contribute marginally to increased cost effectiveness for the SDF, but in the end to enhance its military power, Japan cannot avoid spending more.

For several decades, Japan has put aside at most 1.5 percent of its national income on defense if paramilitary expenditures, such as space, are included.
A narrower definition brings the fraction down to 1.0 percent. The country is not doing significantly more now than during the “unipolar moment” of the George H.W. Bush era after the Soviets were crushed and before China’s emergence.

We cannot analogize Japan with the American Empire, which has been at war and/or preparing for Armageddon for the past 75 years, but comparisons with Europe are valid. Cold War military appropriations of the large European NATO states hovered around 2.5-5.0 percent of GDP from the 1970s onward. The benchmarks for Japan are West Germany and Italy, which unlike the U.K. and France spent neither on nuclear deterrents nor on out-of-area missions. In 1978, after a decade of détente in Europe, West Germany invested about 3.2 percent of its GDP in defense and Italy 2.1 percent.
Germany bore the added expense of land taken up by the armed services (much more than in Japan) and tons of deutschemarks pumped into Allied-occupied West Berlin.
Unlike the SDF, West Germany and Italy saved money by paying conscripted soldiers below-market wages.

In 2011, Italy and Germany, whose environment is less dangerous than Japan’s, were in the 1.3 percent range, i.e. more or less where Japan is today (and no one argues that the SDF is getting more “bang for the buck”
due to greater efficiency). Moreover, many rightly think that Europe now dangerously under invests in defense. In the Asia-Pacific, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia have larger outlays relative to gdp than Japan. The new Australian cabinet promised to boost defense from 1.59 percent to 2.0 percent over the next decade.

Defense accounts for less than 10 percent of the Japanese national budget excluding debt service.
Bringing down other items by less than 11 percent would allow a doubling of military appropriations (local government spending and off-budget items, which fund many services, would be unchanged). A larger SDF would compensate for many cuts by boosting demand and employment. If Japan’s survival is at risk, this is a small price to pay. Alternatively, military spending could be a “second arrow” stimulus, making a larger deficit an option.

If the SDF budget doubled, Japan would still allocate a smaller fraction of its wealth to its armed services than West Germany in the late 1970s and be in line or just above Italy’s posture then. At least 97 percent of its economy would remain civilian.

Japan’s capabilities would improve, but the country would not be transmogrified into Godzilla. Concerns about American reliability would remain, but attenuate.
Tokyo would increase its influence in Washington in line with its greater commitment to national security.

Why has this not happened? First, ingrained pacifism, a feeble military-industrial complex, and inertia, makes altering the budget particularly hard.

Second, Tokyo probably still expects the U.S. cavalry will ride to the rescue.

Third, Abe prioritizes the past over the future.
Praying at Yasukuni will neither deter China nor help the SDF. Nor will it inspire the citizenry since most Japanese are out of sync with “Yasukunism.” The visit undermines ties with two U.S. allies (Japan and South Korea), helps the Chinese Communist Party mobilize the masses against Japan, and convinces South Koreans, Americans, Australians, Singaporeans and others whose countries are in Japan’s camp, that Japan is run by a war criminal-loving clique (which it isn’t).

An alternative strategy would be to disburse considerably more on defense and simultaneously go into “overdrive” on the apology front, make concessions to South Korea on contentious issues, and portray a more potent SDF to the Japanese people and foreigners not as a “nationalist” move but as a reasonable step to counter Chinese (and North Korean) provocations in a spirit consistent with a desire for peace. West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (in office 1974-82) provides a relevant template, i.e. a measured but forceful response to the Soviet challenge, promoting European cooperation, leaving the door open to negotiations with Moscow, and zero tolerance for the Nazi past. As Vice Premier Taro Aso would say, this is a chapter of recent German history worth studying.

Robert Dujarric is Director, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan
(robertdujarric@gmail.com)

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

[SSJ: 8419] Human Trafficking talk at Hitotsubashi

From: Jonathan Lewis
Date: 2014/01/20

Institute for the Study of Global Issues Graduate School of Social Science Hitotsubashi University

"Human Trafficking: Constructing Problems, Inventing Solutions"

Petrice Flowers
(Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hawai'i at Manoa; currently Visiting Professor, Institute for the Study of Global Issues, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi
University)

The Trafficking Protocol offers a broad definition of human trafficking that includes, but is not limited to women trafficked into the sex trade. Despite this broad definition, Japan's 2004 Action Plan to address human trafficking narrowly defined the problem as foreign women forced into prostitution. This talk will explore the connection between how the construction of issues as international problems determines a limited set of options for addressing the problems domestically. I argue that the definition of the problem in the international discursive environment has contributed to the limited the response to the problem in Japan.

January 19, 2014

The Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem offers post doctoral fellowships for the year 2014-2015. The post-docs are open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences specializing in East Asia, especially Japan, China, Korea and Mongolia. Fellowships are granted for one academic year or one term with the possibility of extension for an additional year. The starting date of the visit should not be later than four years after receipt of the Doctoral Degree; the fellow must hold a valid Doctoral Degree no later than September 2014.

The fellowship consists of a monthly stipend (tax free) of $1,500. Payments are made once in three months in Israeli Shekels and are linked to the "representative rate of exchange." Fellows are entitled to one airline ticket (economy class, up to 1500$) for a direct flight from their home town to Israel and back.

The fellows are expected to teach one or two courses in the Hebrew University (for additional payment, according to the Hebrew University regulations). The ability to teach a course in Hebrew is welcome, but is not a prerequisite for attaining the fellowship. The fellows are also expected to actively participate in the life and activities of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies. The fellows will present their research at the department seminar of the Asian Studies Department, and possibly at other relevant forums. Any work outside the Hebrew University would be allowed only after specific approval by the Frieberg Center.

Applicants should submit *one hard copy and one electronic copy (in one file) of their application to the address below, no later than April 30, 2014.

The application must include:
1. CV
2. Research plan
3. A sample of applicant's publications (if relevant) 4. Two letters of recommendation. The applicant should indicate the names and positions of the recommenders, but the letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the email address below.

The Frieberg Center will announce its decision by June 2014. The academic year at the Hebrew University begins on October 26th, 2014 and ends in June 26th 2015; the fellows are supposed to arrive in Israel no later than October 20th, 2014. The one-term fellowship will end on January 30th, 2015, or start on March 1, 2015 and end on June 30th, 2015

This notice in no way commits to accepting candidates in the fields advertised.

The Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies
Tel/Fax: +972-(0)2-5881371
eacenter@mscc.huji.ac.il

http://www.eacenter.huji.ac.il.

--
New book by Nissim Otmazgin, Regionalizing Culture: the Political Economy of Japanese Popular Culture in Asia, now out by University of Hawai'i Press!
See the book here:
http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9036-9780824836948.aspx

January 17, 2014

[SSJ: 8417] New book by Jeff Kingston "Critical issues in contemporary Japan"

From: ICAS
Date: 2014/01/17

Dear friends:
We are pleased to announce that
Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan Campus
(TUJ)
, recently published an edited volume, "Critical issues in contemporary Japan" (Routledge, 2013) with chapters written by TUJ faculty members and other well-known academics.

This book provides undergraduate and graduate students with an interdisciplinary compendium written by a number of specialists on contemporary Japan.

It encompasses a range of disciplines in the social sciences and thus will be useful for a variety of courses as well as to anybody interested in learning more about Japan.

[SSJ: 8416] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, January 29: Gender socialization at primary school in contemporary Japan

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2014/01/17

You are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on Wednesday, January 29, 18.30:

Aline Henninger, INALCO, Waseda University:

Gender socialization at primary school in contemporary Japan

Coeducation for girls and boys in Japan was enacted and implemented by the 1947 Basic Law of Education which was revised in 2006 during the first Abe government.
However, coeducation does by no way mean gender equality in education.

During the 1970s, Japanese feminist researchers and social scholars realized how school administration, school system and national curricula were gender-biased to a large extent. Since then, women’s studies
(joseigaku) and gender studies (jendâgaku) have been trying to understand all the effects of this “hidden curriculum” (kakureta karikyuramu), and have been explaining how the gender bias in education is linked with gender discrimination at work and gendered employment structures.

But how is gender discrimination still taking place at schools even today? Based on fieldwork conducted in several primary schools in Honshû, my PhD research is about understanding how boys and girls are socialized during the early stage of primary education. Put in another way, what is the model of “the little girl” and “the little boy” which is implemented during childhood, and how do the children deal with these gendered norms?
I will introduce the theoretical and methodological framework of my research and present the first results after three months of fieldwork, including findings of interviews with children and teachers and participant observation in gender equality research groups and sex education research groups organized by primary school teachers.

Aline Henniger graduated from Sorbonne University (Master of International Relations) and INALCO (Master of Japanese Language). Currently, she is in her second year as a PhD candidate at the French National University for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO, Paris). She is research fellow at the Gender Studies Research Center of Waseda University in 2013-2014. Her PhD research is about gender socialization, and she is conducting fieldwork in several primary schools.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen and C. Hommerich.

[SSJ: 8415] Associate Professorship in the Economy of Japan

SCHOOL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY AREA STUDIES Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies in association with St Antony’s College Grade 36S: Salary from £43,745 p.a.

Applications are invited for the permanent appointment to an Associate Professorship in the Economy of Japan, to be held in the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies (SIAS), in association with a non-stipendiary Non-Tutorial Fellowship at St Antony’s College with effect from 1 October 2014, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Candidates should have received by 1 October 2014 the degree of PhD in Economics or related field (to include economics, economic history and business and management
studies) with a specialisation in Japan. The successful candidate must demonstrate a research record in the Economy of Japan of international standing appropriate to the stage of his or her career and evidence of imaginative current and future research plans, including the potential to lead new research initiatives; a record of success in securing research funding, or a demonstrable desire to do so; a fluent command of the Japanese language; the ability to deliver excellent tutorial teaching and to give lectures and classes; the ability to supervise and relate well to high achieving students at all levels; and a willingness to undertake administration and pastoral responsibilities on behalf of SIAS and St Antony’s College.

The successful applicant will have research interests in Economics or related fields with a specialisation in Japan. He/she will be expected to contribute to the SIAS graduate curriculum in the teaching of Modern Japanese Studies, the undergraduate teaching about Japan and be capable of doctoral supervision. More precisely, this post holder will be asked to deliver one of the core modules, ‘Japanese Economic Policy’ as well as lectures as part of the research methods lecture series (specifically quantitative methods).
Other teaching duties include contributing to the undergraduate teaching about modern Japan that takes place in the Faculty of Oriental Studies and the supervision of research at all levels. The post holder will also be expected to contribute to the administration of the School. Please refer to the further particulars for full details of the requirements for this post.

The salary for this post will be on a scale from £43,745p.a.

The post is located in the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, 27 Winchester Road, Oxford.

Further particulars, including details of how to apply, can be obtained from the SIAS website (http://www.area-studies.ox.ac.uk/vacancies, or by writing to the Assistant to the Departmental Administrator, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, 12 Bevington Road, Oxford OX2 6LS (vacancies@area.ox.ac.uk).

The closing date for applications is 12:00 noon (UK
time) on 14 February 2014.
Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Oxford.
Related Documents

January 16, 2014

[SSJ: 8414] Japan History Group, ISS, University of Tokyo, 30 January 2014

From: Naofumi NAKAMURA
Date: 2014/01/16

The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Thursday,
30 January 2014, at 6:00 PM in Conference Room No.1(Dai-Ichi Kaigishitsu) of the Institute of Social Science main Building.

Presenter: Yu Suzuki (LSE, PhD Candidate)

Title: 'British East Asian Policy from 1880 to 1894'

Discussant: Yuichi Sasaki (University of Tokyo, PhD
Candidate)

Abstract:
As many historians of modern East Asia have already pointed out that, even as late as 1894, about half a century after the First Opium War, the decision-makers of many local East Asian countries did not necessarily consider the word "country" as being synonymous to "sovereign nation-state." They also did not necessarily see that the inter-country relationship should be conducted between nation-states whose sovereignty is theoretically equal. And as Dr.
Kobayashi Takao points out, what is interesting about British East Asian policy from 1880 to 1894 is that many British observers - including those within and outside of the government - thought that they must deal with the Chinese claim of suzerainty over their neighbours very seriously if they wanted to protect their interest in East Asia during this period. By looking at the East Asian policy of a European imperial power which had a significant commercial and naval presence in East Asia at that time, historians can get a unique insight into regional which could not be gained only by looking at the interactions between the local East Asian powers.
Yet, despite the fact that there are many works on the British East Asian policy from 1830 to mid-1860s, there are much less works on the period from 1870 to 1894, and in particular, there are even lesser litterateurs on this topic in a period from 1880 to 1894. Also these few works that do look into this period rely only on the official correspondences of the Foreign Office.
While it is undeniable that the Foreign Office documents are very important in understanding the British East Asian policy, but one cannot understand the complexity of the policy-making process without looking at other important sources which sheds light to the opinions of the individuals outside of the Foreign Office but were nonetheless important. The presentation will re-examine the existing historiography by using some of the primary sources that were previously not used.

--
--------------------------------
Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo
naofumin[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Robert Dujarric, Director of ICAS
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:

icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しください。

Overview

Humankind is dependent on the seas, their ecosystem and their biological diversity –for food, energy generation, medical products, tourism, climate-regulating functions and the oceans’ absorption of CO². The oceans account for 70% of the earth surface and because they are deep, for 98% of the earth living space.

For a long time humanity thought of the sea as something inexhaustible but today changes caused by humans are accumulating and conservation and sustainable use of the oceans are urgently required.

Contrary to humans on land, neither bacteria, fish, currents, or tsunami waves, respect international borders. Humankind should manage the sea in the common interest of humanity rather than divide it between owners. Realizing that the sea is a global commons (res communis) rather than unclaimed assets (res nullus) is a must for the international community thirty years after the establishment of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which set up the regulatory framework of nations’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and defined international waters beyond the EEZs as the ‘common heritage of mankind’.

Speaker

First trained as a scientist (marine ecology) and then developed management and international cooperation skills (starting with in Japan and South-East Asia) through technical training and professional practice. From the very beginning of the 1990s Yves Henocque settled in the Mediterranean to start a new coastal environmental laboratory within the premises of the French Research Institute for the Sustainable Development of the Sea (IFREMER) in Toulon. After training in the United States in 1994, he started to practice integrated coastal management (ICM) and strategic planning in the Mediterranean and other marine regions such as the Indian Ocean (1995-2000). More recently, he expanded his experience in Thailand (Department of Fisheries) as Team Leader and Co-Director of CHARM (Coastal Habitats and Resources Management), a 5-years and 16M Euros project (2002-2007) co-funded by the Thai Government and the EU. Since 2008 he has been IFREMER Maritime Strategy Senior Advisor where is contributes to definition and implementation of national maritime strategies and integrated coastal and ocean management strategy and action plans in Europe, the Indian Ocean, Caribbean, and the Asia-Pacific regions, with a particular focus on Japan where has been based since October 2013 as JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) Guest Researcher and OPRF (Ocean Policy Research Foundation) Visiting Fellow.

January 15, 2014

[SSJ: 8410] Reminder: CJG Announcement, January 17, 2014

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by

Dr. Kenji Kushida , Takahashi Research Associate, Stanford University

Leading without Followers: The Puzzle of Japan’s “Galapagos” ICT Industry and the Political Economy of Commoditization

Friday, January 17, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo.

ABSTRACT
In the mid-2000s, casual visitors to Japan would often marvel at the sophisticated Japanese mobile handsets and wonder, “When are we going to get that?” The answer, sadly, was “never.” Japan’s mobile communications market was advanced, but isolated.
Unlike the automobile or machine tools industries, its advanced domestic industry did not lead to global prominence.
Japan’s ICT industry was, in fact, a “leader without followers” by becoming a leader along technological trajectories expected by major players, only to be disrupted when the world’s technology trajectories abruptly shifted toward a new direction—time and time again. By analyzing Japan’s ICT industry in an international comparative perspective, I find that Japan’s ICT industry structure was critically different from other countries and regions. Network carriers emerged as industry leaders in Japan, versus communications equipment manufacturers elsewhere.
Global competition was shaped by interaction between these different sets of domestic and regional winners.
I then go a step further, showing how the politics of telecommunications liberalization around the world shaped the diverging industry structures at critical junctures. The result of the variety of political settlements around the world led to the global dynamics of competition we see unfolding—including the rapid rise of disruptors from the US computer and IT services industry, such as Apple and Google, that are rapidly commoditizing all other actors originating in the telecommunications industry.

SPEAKER
Kenji E. Kushida is the Takahashi Research Associate in Japanese Studies at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Kushida’s research focuses on comparative political economy, particularly in the areas of information technology and comparative capitalist systems. His streams of research include commoditization in information technology sectors around the world, cloud computing, Japan-Korea comparisons in the broadband and wireless industries, Japan’s “Galapagos” IT sector, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, systemic change in Japan’s financial sector, the effects of multinational corporations in Japan, and Silicon Valley–Japan relationships. His book publications include Japan under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition and Governance (coedited with Phillip Y.
Lipscy, APARC/Brookings 2013), Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Reform and System Change in Japan (coedited with Kay Shimizu and Jean Oi, APARC/Brookings 2013) and articles in journals including Socio-Economic Review, Social Science Japan Journal, Communications & Strategies, Japanese Political Economy, Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Asian Survey, and the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.
Complete publications at www.kenjikushida.com.

Contemporary Japan Group:
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

Kirino Natsuo (1951- ) is a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of crime fiction. Her most famous novel Out received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, and was first finalist for a Japanese writer in the 2004 Edgar Awards. Her works are distributed in more than 20 countries.

Along with Out and her fourth novel Soft Cheeks, which received the 1999 Naoki Prize, her other novels have also received prominent literary awards such as the Edogawa Rampo Award, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro Award and Yomiuri Prize for Literature.

Some of her works are written based on and inspired by real cases which represent the darkness in modern Japanese society.

In those novels, she frequently depicts marginalized people and explores social problems. Having a keen insight into those minorities in society, Kirino presents them from their own standpoint.

Dr. Lars Vargö has been the Swedish Ambassador to Japan since 2011. While he is an experienced diplomat, he is also a specialist in Japanese history, has published numerous articles on Japan, and translated Japanese literature into Swedish. In this reading session,Dr. Vargö will read from Out which he translated into Swedish, with an analytical point of view about Japan today as historian, and will compare Swedish and Japanese society from the viewpoint of translator and one experienced in international affairs and cultural exchange

Lars Vargö, Ph.D. in Japanese Studies, is Swedish Ambassador to Japan, and Chairman of the Tokyo International Literary Society. His publications include The deceitful tranquility―Japan then and now (Carlssons,1992), The face of another by Abe K¬b¬, translation Leif Janzon and Lars Vargö (Lind och Co, 2004), and I Remember the crickets―Haiku poems by Natsume S¬seki, translation by Lars Vargö (Bambulunden, 2010).
Awarded the Order of Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star (1998), Ichikawa City Cultural Award (2003).

* Please note that this event will be at Azabu Hall of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

David Pilling: Bending Adversity, a Portrait of Contemporary Japan =============================

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:David Pilling, Asia Editor of the Financial Times Moderator:Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies, TUJ
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

David Pilling will talk about his newly released book Bending Adversity, a portrait of contemporary Japan.
Throughout its history, Japan has weathered calamities from natural disasters such as the 2011 tsunami to crushing defeat in war and its more recent loss of
economic vigour. Drawing on a wide range of
contemporary Japanese voices and on the author’s own experiences living in Japan as a foreign correspondent for six years his book draws together many threads - economics, history, politics and contemporary reportage
- together in one volume. Bending Adversity's publication coincides with a surge of renewed interest in Japan, still the most important US ally in Asia, as its territorial disputes heat up dangerously with China, as it attempts a radical revival of its economy and as the Fukushima nuclear disaster rumbles on.

Speaker

David Pilling is the Asia Editor of the Financial Times, overseeing coverage of the region, including China, India and Japan. He writes an award-winning weekly column on Asian affairs and frequently interviews leading regional figures from the worlds of politics, business and the arts. He was FT Bureau Chief in Tokyo from 2002 to 2008. His book Bending Adversity:
Japan and the Art of Survival will be published by Penguin in January 2014.

*******************

"This is the first, groundbreaking rendition to come out on Japan's Lost Decades. David Pilling, one of our era's most perceptive observers and journalists on Asia, has described the age in a manner both profound and engaging - reminiscent in this vein of John Dower's great opus, Embracing Defeat."
- Yoichi Funabashi, Chairman Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation and former editor in chief of the Asahi Shimbun

“Bending Adversity is a superb reappraisal of the so-called 'lost decade(s)' of contemporary Japan."
- David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

* Please note that this event will be at Azabu Hall of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

David Pilling: Bending Adversity, a Portrait of Contemporary Japan =============================

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:David Pilling, Asia Editor of the Financial Times Moderator:Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies, TUJ
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

David Pilling will talk about his newly released book Bending Adversity, a portrait of contemporary Japan.
Throughout its history, Japan has weathered calamities from natural disasters such as the 2011 tsunami to crushing defeat in war and its more recent loss of
economic vigour. Drawing on a wide range of
contemporary Japanese voices and on the author’s own experiences living in Japan as a foreign correspondent for six years his book draws together many threads - economics, history, politics and contemporary reportage
- together in one volume. Bending Adversity's publication coincides with a surge of renewed interest in Japan, still the most important US ally in Asia, as its territorial disputes heat up dangerously with China, as it attempts a radical revival of its economy and as the Fukushima nuclear disaster rumbles on.

Speaker

David Pilling is the Asia Editor of the Financial Times, overseeing coverage of the region, including China, India and Japan. He writes an award-winning weekly column on Asian affairs and frequently interviews leading regional figures from the worlds of politics, business and the arts. He was FT Bureau Chief in Tokyo from 2002 to 2008. His book Bending Adversity:
Japan and the Art of Survival will be published by Penguin in January 2014.

*******************

"This is the first, groundbreaking rendition to come out on Japan's Lost Decades. David Pilling, one of our era's most perceptive observers and journalists on Asia, has described the age in a manner both profound and engaging - reminiscent in this vein of John Dower's great opus, Embracing Defeat."
- Yoichi Funabashi, Chairman Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation and former editor in chief of the Asahi Shimbun

“Bending Adversity is a superb reappraisal of the so-called 'lost decade(s)' of contemporary Japan."
- David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

January 14, 2014

[SSJ: 8409] DIJ Hist & Hum Study Group, 21 Jan, Baird on Butoh

From: DIJ History and Humanities Study Group
(hist.hum-studygroup@dijtokyo.org)
Date: 2014/01/14

We would like to invite you to our first

DIJ History and Humanities Study Group in 2014 on

Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 18:30

Speaker: Bruce Baird, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Cabaret as an Artistic Beachhead: The Case of Butoh

The dance form butoh has shocked and enthralled audiences around the world, and become one of postwar Japan's most important contributions to the world of performing arts. Perhaps no aspect of butoh is more interesting from an academic standpoint than the fact that for three decades the performers made their living not from their avant-garde dances, but rather from nightly bur lesque performances. This presentation seeks to progress toward a unified th eory of butoh and burlesque by examining the relationship between the two. I start with a brief introduction about the burlesque activities of the dance rs and how they evolved over time. Following the introduction, specifically I consider how the burlesque shows were used to support a communal life-styl e by providing room, board and tuition for dancers, as well as how the burle sque shows could be used to raise money for the expenses associated with per formance such as equipment, advertising, costume, and stage design costs (an d I contrast this with the then-current iemoto system that underpinned other arts). Then I consider the way that burlesque performances could provide a foothold in different markets as butoh expanded internationally. Finally, I explore resonances between the burlesque performance and the butoh performan ces themselves to understand how the actual performing styles influenced eac h other.

Bruce Baird is an Associate Professor in Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; he is interested in Japanese theatr e, philosophy and new media studies. He is the recipient of two Fulbright fe llowships, author of a book about the founder of butoh entitled Hijikata Tat sumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012―n ominated for the 2013 International Convention of Asian Scholars Book Prize) , and working on a general history of butoh.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Miki Aoyama-Olschina and Torsten Weber.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(weber@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

[SSJ: 8406] Lecture on Butoh and Hijikata Tatsumi at the International House of Japan

Hijikata Tatsumi (1928-1986) founded the performance art butō, one of the most internationally influential developments in the theater and dance world in the last half century. But knowledge of butō’s place within the history of postwar Japan has not kept up with this worldwide interest. In this lecture, Dr. Baird will place Hijikata’s activities within postwar Japanese history. Short clips of Hijikata’s performances will also be shown during the program.

This presentation is about language choice in Okinawa.
Three languages are at issue, Ryukyan, Japanese, and English. The Japanese language spread campaign in the Ryukyus from 1880 onwards entailed restrictions to the freedom of language choices and local identities in the Ryukyus. Hence, it was contested and needed coercion and ideological enforcement in order to be realized.
Japanese language use in Ryukyuan families and neighborhoods from the 1950s onwards differs however.
It was carried out in a quest for freedom from US occupation by Ryukyuans themselves. That the hopes for improved societal well-being associated with exclusive use of Japanese have not come true is crucial for our understanding of current efforts of language revitalization. These are carried out in the name of freedom and are contested by some because more freedom always coincides with less security. The desire to balance security and freedom makes communal life conflict-ridden. Which of the two desires will prevail over the other in the Ryukyus is not entirely clear yet, but it appears that the pendulum is swinging towards the freedom end at the present.
Patrick Heinrich is professor at Dokkyo University. His present research focusses on language endangerment and globalizing sociolinguistics. His latest publications include The Making of Monolingual Japan (2012) and Netto jidai no kotoba to shakai [Language and Society in the Internet Age] (2013, with Noboyuki Tsukahara).
He is the general secretary of the Ryukyuan Heritage Language Society.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 6.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free, please register at forum@dijtokyo.org

Abstract
In the wake of Japan's 1994 electoral reforms, many scholars predicted that interest groups would gradually lose their longstanding influence in elections. While groups are certainly much weaker today than they were a generation ago, recent electoral trends indicate that they may be experiencing something of a revival. To explain this puzzle, I offer an alternative interpretation of interest group influence that emphasizes organizational factors. Specifically, I show how organizational complementarities between large, nationally oriented groups and the two main parties continue to position those groups to coopt a number of electoral functions, including vote mobilization, the coordination of vote gathering across constituencies, and electoral monitoring. I illustrate these findings with reference to associations of postmasters and farmers and assess their implications for median voter theories.

Short Bio
Patricia L. Maclachlan received her PhD in comparative politics from Columbia University in 1996 and was a research associate at Harvard University's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations from 1995-96. After working for one year as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Calgary's Department of Political Science, she joined the University of Texas in 1997, where she is now Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies. She also served as director of UT's Center for East Asian Studies from 2007-2010.
Dr. Maclachlan's research focuses on the politics and political economy of Japan. Her publications include Consumer Politics in Postwar Japan: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism (Columbia University Press, 2002), The Ambivalent Consumer: Questioning Consumption in East Asia and the West (Cornell University Press, 2006), which she co-edited with Sheldon Garon, and The People's Post Office: The History and Politics of the Japanese Postal System,
1871-2010 (Harvard University East Asia Center, 2011).

-----------------------------------------------------
WOJUSS Office
*******************************************************
*******
*WOJUSS is a research network organization at Waseda University, Tokyo, promoting policy-oriented, collaborative research on Japan-US relations in the global context, with special focus on Asia.
For more detail on our activities, please visit http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/
*******************************************************
*******

The cultural turn in the social sciences centers on meaning. Tools such as identities, codes, narratives, and frames have been deployed to understand human action. But all this work rests on the fact that these carriers are meaningful for people. But how?

Meaning is more than mere intelligibility. To understand its resonance, we have to see how emotions of various sorts direct and focus our attention, making us care about some things and not about others.

James M. Jasper is a sociologist best known for his research on theories of culture and politics. Not only is he a specialist on nuclear protest movements from a cultural view (The Art of Moral Protest. The University of Chicago Press) but has done in-depth research on energy policies in France, Sweden, and the United States. (Nuclear Politics. Princeton University Press) and the role of emotions in politics (Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements.
University of Chicago Press).

Recent developments in global yoga show a tendency towards social activism in the charity market. In this context the talk will examine the Yoga Aid World Challenge 2012 (founded in 2007 by the Sydney-based couple Eriko Kinoshita and Clive Mayhew). During this 24-h-event yoga is practiced across 25 countries worldwide following the course of the sun. Japan was the third strongest country in rising donations. The underlying event-narrative “to give back” indicates the motivation for partaking in the event and sets the framework of the action as an intercultural obligation. Corresponding social networks and digital media strongly promote the joy of practicing and equate the meaning of life with giving. Competition stands out as an unusual strategy in the predominantly gentle type of modern postural yoga. The talk will analyze the communication and interaction of this event and align the politics of affect of competition, gratitude and a sense of obligation with contemporary spirituality.

Anne Koch is Adjunct Assistant Professor in Cultural Study of Religion at Munich University, Germany. Her main areas of research are contemporary spirituality, alternative healing and economics of religion. Since 2012 she conducts fieldwork on cosmopolitan spirituality at Anglophone yoga institutions in Tokyo. Her books deal with an epistemology of the foreign, body knowledge and the economics of religion. Anne Koch has published numerous articles and is book review editor of the Journal of Religion in Europe and a member of the program group “Religion in Europe” in the American Academy of Religion.

Lecture in English / No registration required ________________________________________
Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2013

Emotions:
Are They the Key to Culture?

Dr. James M. Jasper
Graduate Center of the City University of New York January 14, 2014
18:30-20:00 (Tuesday)
Sophia University Yotsuya Campus, Building 2, Room 508

The cultural turn in the social sciences centers on meaning. Tools such as identities, codes, narratives, and frames have been deployed to understand human action. But all this work rests on the fact that these carriers are meaningful for people. But how? Meaning is more than mere intelligibility. To understand its resonance, we have to see how emotions of various sorts direct and focus our attention, making us care about some things and not about others.

James M. Jasper is a sociologist best known for his research on theories of culture and politics. Not only is he a specialist on nuclear protest movements from a cultural view (The Art of Moral Protest. The University of Chicago Press) but has done in-depth research on energy policies in France, Sweden, and the United States. (Nuclear Politics. Princeton University Press) and the role of emotions in politics (Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements. University of Chicago Press).

Lecture in English / No registration required Please contact David H. Slater (d-slater@sophia.ac.jp) for any questions.

[SSJ: 8400] CJG Announcement, January 2014

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by

Dr. Kenji Kushida , Takahashi Research Associate, Stanford University

Leading without Followers: The Puzzle of Japan’s “Galapagos” ICT Industry and the Political Economy of Commoditization

Friday, January 17, 2014 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo.

ABSTRACT
In the mid-2000s, casual visitors to Japan would often marvel at the sophisticated Japanese mobile handsets and wonder, “When are we going to get that?” The answer, sadly, was “never.” Japan’s mobile communications market was advanced, but isolated.
Unlike the automobile or machine tools industries, its advanced domestic industry did not lead to global prominence.
Japan’s ICT industry was, in fact, a “leader without followers” by becoming a leader along technological trajectories expected by major players, only to be disrupted when the world’s technology trajectories abruptly shifted toward a new direction—time and time again. By analyzing Japan’s ICT industry in an international comparative perspective, I find that Japan’s ICT industry structure was critically different from other countries and regions. Network carriers emerged as industry leaders in Japan, versus communications equipment manufacturers elsewhere.
Global competition was shaped by interaction between these different sets of domestic and regional winners.
I then go a step further, showing how the politics of telecommunications liberalization around the world shaped the diverging industry structures at critical junctures. The result of the variety of political settlements around the world led to the global dynamics of competition we see unfolding—including the rapid rise of disruptors from the US computer and IT services industry, such as Apple and Google, that are rapidly commoditizing all other actors originating in the telecommunications industry.

SPEAKER
Kenji E. Kushida is the Takahashi Research Associate in Japanese Studies at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Kushida’s research focuses on comparative political economy, particularly in the areas of information technology and comparative capitalist systems. His streams of research include commoditization in information technology sectors around the world, cloud computing, Japan-Korea comparisons in the broadband and wireless industries, Japan’s “Galapagos” IT sector, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, systemic change in Japan’s financial sector, the effects of multinational corporations in Japan, and Silicon Valley–Japan relationships. His book publications include Japan under the DPJ: The Politics of Transition and Governance (coedited with Phillip Y.
Lipscy, APARC/Brookings 2013), Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Reform and System Change in Japan (coedited with Kay Shimizu and Jean Oi, APARC/Brookings 2013) and articles in journals including Socio-Economic Review, Social Science Japan Journal, Communications & Strategies, Japanese Political Economy, Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Asian Survey, and the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.
Complete publications at www.kenjikushida.com.

Contemporary Japan Group:
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

About the speaker: ProfessorTomas Kåberger spends a quarter of his time in Japan as Executive Board Chairman of the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation. He has held leading roles in companies providing fuels and technology in the bio-energy industry, company developing sustainable energy solutions for the automotive industry, and a company operating wind power plants. He serves on the board if Industrifonden, an industrial investment foundation. Politically, he has served on board of Swedish and European Environmental Citizen’s organizations, several Swedish Government Committees developing energy and environmental legislation, and China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development as a member of a task force on Low-Carbon Industrialization Strategies. From 2008 until 2011 he was Director General of the National Swedish Energy Agency.
He received a MSc in Engineering Physics, a PhD in Physical Resource Theory, and Docent in Environmental Science from Chalmers University of Technology. He has been professor in International Sustainable Energy Systems at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, and he is currently Professor of Industrial Energy Policy at Chalmers University of Technology and serves as Distinguished Visiting Expert of bio-energy technology at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou.

About the talk: In the wake of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami disaster of March 11, 2011, Japan is facing a serious discussions about its energy future. Mr.
Masayoshi Son founded the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation in the summer of 2011 to promote renewable energies and to support public awareness of further renewable deployment. At the same time, the Abe administration has stated that nuclear power is an important source of Japan's energy, and the government's basic energy plan is to be concluded by January 2014. Japan is hence at the crossroad of selecting long-term energy policies for its society.
In this presentation, we will hear Professor Kåberger's views on these challenges.

* William Flavin assumed the job as the Assistant Director at the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, located at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in July 2013. Before this assignment he was the head of the Doctrine and Education Division in PKSOI. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Colonel in the US Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. He was a senior fellow at CSIS for his Army War College year and taught at the Army War College.
** The nature and complexities of today’s multi-dimensional operations are such that no single organization, department, or agency has all the requisite resources, authority, or expertise to single-handedly provide an effective response. While the military normally focuses on reaching clearly defined and measurable objectives within given timelines under a command structure, civilian organizations are concerned with fulfilling changeable political, economic, social, and humanitarian interests using dialogue, bargaining, risk taking, and consensus building. Harnessing the power of disparate organizations with different priorities and procedures is a daunting task. As such, collaboration among various military, governmental, non-governmental, and civilian agencies with the host nation is needed to achieve a common goal.

December 31, 2013

[SSJ: 8395] China-Japan: Delinking Economics From Politics

From: Richard Katz
Date: 2013/12/31

Foreign Affairs has a piece by me on its website arguing that China has been delinking an increasingly softer stance on economic ties with Japan, even as political ties between the two countries between increasingly brittle. The URL below will lead you to the first few paragraphs and logging in will bring you the rest. For those who do not subscribe, you can register for free to get the whole piece.

"When it comes to Japan, China seems torn. On security issues, it is becoming increasingly hawkish -- witness its recent declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands in the East China Sea. But on economic ties -- from Japanese imports to Japanese investments -- it is becoming increasingly dovish. In short, China has started to delink economics from politics..
A sign that China has given up on that gambit was seen in Chinese media reporting on the visit of a top-level Japanese business delegation to Beijing in November. China's state-owned TV network, CCTV, reported, "Putting aside their countries' diplomatic deadlock, the two sides are seeking better economic ties." To be sure, the normalization of economic ties could be interrupted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's widely criticized December 26 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which is controversial because it honors, among others, 14 Class-A World War II-era war criminals. But otherwise, Chinese-Japanese economic relations (but not political ties) are set to get better, not worse.
The delinking limits the ways that Beijing can pressure Tokyo -- or induce Japanese business to pressure Abe. In turn, it forces China to rely on policies, such as the ADIZ, that could alienate other Asian neighbors."

So far (as of Dec. 30) there has been no sign of mass boycotts of Japanese products, or even mass rallies, let alone a repeat of the violence of 2012. The Communist Party-affiliated. On December 27, the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times ran an editorial calling for countermeasures but limited those to barring Japanese politicians who have visited Yasukuni from coming to China for five years. The next day it ran an editorial arguing against mass boycotts or even mass demonstrations.

December 28, 2013

[SSJ: 8394] Call for presenters for panel on Mourning, memorialization and recovery in post-disaster contexts

From: David H. Slater
Date: 2013/12/28

Call for more papers to complete our panel

IUAES 2014 Conference, 15 - 18 May 2014, Chiba, Japan

P118 Mourning, memorialization and recovery in post-disaster contexts

Maja Veselič (Sophia U.) and I are convening a panel and would like to invite abstracts from those engaged in relevant work. Japan-based papers are welcome and we are esp. encourage non-Japan papers, allowing us a chance to examine this unfortunately widely shared phenomenon from different ethnographic perspectives.
The IUAES is a large and diverse group of anthropologists and as such a great chance to present work and discuss.

The deadline is January 9th, and you submit it directly to the site-not to us. Of course, we would welcome any inquiries.

http://www.nomadit.co.uk/iuaes/iuaes2014/panels.php5?Pa
nelID=2928

Happy New Year
David Slater, Sophia U.

Short abstract

This panel examines the diverse ways in which individuals and communities grieve for and remember the dead in the wake of a disaster as well as the importance of memorialization for the conceptions of both, the disaster itself and the subsequent process of recovery.

Long abstract

Trauma caused by sudden and violent mass death is almost immediately followed by public expressions of mourning for lives lost and compassion for shattered communities. Rituals, objects and sites of memorialization are imbued with complex symbolic meanings and have a variety of psychological, social and political functions: communal acts of remembrance may act as vehicles of personal catharsis, religious rituals of pacifying the dead may be inscribed with political strife, and disagreements over memorial monuments may serve to negotiate communal future.

This panel examines the diverse ways in which individuals and communities grieve for and memorialize the dead as well as their importance for the experience by survivors of both, the disaster itself and the subsequent process of recovery. We invite papers that address these issues from ethnographic or theoretical perspectives.

Currently committed papers (tentative titles):
Tim Graf: From Buddhism to Spiritual Care? Religion, memorialization, and the recreation of everyday life in
post-3/11 Japan

Ryo Morimoto: Cartography of Trauma and Semiotic Re-territorialization of Memory: A Case of Two Miracle Pine Trees in Post-Disasters Japan

Maja Veselič: The Poetics and Politics of Kataribe Story Telling

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies Sophia University, Tokyo

December 27, 2013

[SSJ: 8393] CFP for NAJS conference on contemporary Japan in Helsinki, March 2014

From: Dick Stegewerns
Date: 2013/12/27

Dear colleagues,

I would like to draw your attention to the call for papers for the annual conference of the Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, which will convene in Helsinki in March next year. The format of this conference is very beneficial for those who look for feedback on their research from Japan specialists in various disciplines. The accepted papers are read beforehand by all participants and most of the conference is dedicated to discussion of the papers, both by selected discussants and by the other participants.

Best regards,

Dick Stegewerns
University of Oslo

CALL FOR PAPERS

NAJS 2014 - The Tenth NAJS Conference on the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, March 20-21, 2014, Helsinki, Finland.

You are most welcome to the Tenth Annual NAJS Conference. The conference will take place at the University of Helsinki.

We invite paper proposals on a broad set of topics related to Japanese society and culture, past and present, including politics and international relations, economy and business, sociology and anthropology, popular culture, literature, religion, and art.

Registration forms and more information about the conference can be found on the NAJS website:
http://nordicjapan.wordpress.com

Please read the guide for participation (also on the
website) before registering and sending your abstract.

Deadline for abstracts: January 31, 2014 (Fri)

Deadline for full papers: March 10, 2014 (Mon)

Please submit abstracts and papers to:
bart.gaens@helsinki.fi
You will be notified if your abstract has been accepted by February 10 2014.

The Steering Committee of NAJS
(Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society)

After a four-month hiatus, the monthly workshop for young social scientists will resume at noon on Thursday, January 23. It is sponsored by the Institute of Social Science, Tokyo University. The arrangements are as in the past.*

Presenting in January will be Daniel Nagashima, who is now at Waseda and is working on his dissertation in political science at the University of Virginia under Prof. Leonard Schoppa, He is interested in how coalitions come about in parliamentary systems, and will discuss the pre-electoral coalition (PEC) between the Liberal Democrats and Koumeitou in 1999. One question is how the motivations of each party had been affected by the electoral reform of 1994. Another is that, if the coalition made sense then, why didn't it happen earlier? Also, what about the coalition agreement itself, which was (and still is) rather short and vague? PEC agreements in other countries tend to be longer and more specific.

All are welcome to attend, with or without advance notice. If you would like to be on the mailing list, and in particular if interested in presenting, please let me know.

John Campbell

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at
12 pm on Thursdays and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond.
The Institute
of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is a seminar room on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building. The building is off to the right after you come through Akamon, or you can cut through the grounds of Ito Hall off Hongou Doori. It is Bldg 38 on this map:

[SSJ: 8391] Winter Holiday Break

From: From: SSJ Forum Moderator
Date: 2013/12/27

Dear SSJ-Forum subscribers,

Greetings from Hongo. On behalf of the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, we would like to thank you for participating in SSJ-Forum this year. We trust that you have found enough of the messages interesting to make subscribing worthwhile, and hope that you will continue to read and respond to SSJ-Forum posts in 2014.

As the winter solstice has passed, we are soon having a holiday break from December 28th to January 5th, so the SSJ-Forum will shut down during the period. Postings that are sent to the forum during the break will be sent out on January 6th.

Please note that there is an on-line archive of all SSJ-Forum posts at the SSJ-Forum website ( http://ssj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp ). As well as quick links to the most recent posts sent to the Forum, there are three ways to search the archives: by message author, by date, and by keyword.

I hope all of you will have a wonderful holiday season and a very happy and healthy new year.

Abstract
This presentation considers the rise of tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, especially over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, tensions that have come to predominate in this vitally important bilateral relationship since 2010. It explores how these tensions arose in 2010, and how they have transformed both public and elite Japanese perceptions of China. This presentation considers ways for resolving these tensions through mutual concessions. To resolve the longer term conflict over these islands and the demarcation of these two countries’ respective EEZs, it proposes that the Svalbard model for dividing sovereignty and resource exploitation between contenting parties and the Norwegian-Russian 2010 agreement on delimiting their respective EEZ borders in the Barents Sea can serve as useful models.

Short Bio
Paul Midford is Professor, and Director of the Japan Program, at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Midford received his PhD. in Political Science from Columbia University in 2001. His research interests include Japanese foreign and defense policies, the impact of public opinion on policy, renewables and energy security, and East Asian security multilateralism. He has published in International Organization, Security Studies, Pacific Review, Asian Survey, Japan Forum, and International Relations of the Asia-Pacific. Midford is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism?
(Stanford University Press, 2011).

Abstract
In the wake of Japan’s 1994 electoral reforms, many scholars predicted that interest groups would gradually lose their longstanding influence in elections. While groups are certainly much weaker today than they were a generation ago, recent electoral trends indicate that they may be experiencing something of a revival. To explain this puzzle, I offer an alternative interpretation of interest group influence that emphasizes organizational factors. Specifically, I show how organizational complementarities between large, nationally oriented groups and the two main parties continue to position those groups to coopt a number of electoral functions, including vote mobilization, the coordination of vote gathering across constituencies, and electoral monitoring. I illustrate these findings with reference to associations of postmasters and farmers and assess their implications for median voter theories.

Short Bio
Patricia L. Maclachlan received her PhD in comparative politics from Columbia University in 1996 and was a research associate at Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations from 1995-96. After working for one year as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Department of Political Science, she joined the University of Texas in 1997, where she is now Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies. She also served as director of UT’s Center for East Asian Studies from 2007-2010.
Dr. Maclachlan’s research focuses on the politics and political economy of Japan. Her publications include Consumer Politics in Postwar Japan: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism (Columbia University Press, 2002), The Ambivalent Consumer: Questioning Consumption in East Asia and the West (Cornell University Press, 2006), which she co-edited with Sheldon Garon, and The People’s Post Office: The History and Politics of the Japanese Postal System,
1871-2010 (Harvard University East Asia Center, 2011).

-----------------------------------------------------
WOJUSS Office
*******************************************************
*******
*WOJUSS is a research network organization at Waseda University, Tokyo, promoting policy-oriented, collaborative research on Japan-US relations in the global context, with special focus on Asia.
For more detail on our activities, please visit http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/
*******************************************************
*******

December 25, 2013

[SSJ: 8389] CFP for NAJS conference on contemporary Japan in Helsinki, March 2014

From: Dick Stegewerns
Date: 2013/12/25

Dear colleagues,

I would like to draw your attention to the call for papers for the annual conference of the Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, which will convene in Helsinki in March next year. The format of this conference is very beneficial for those who look for feedback on their research from Japan specialists in various disciplines. The accepted papers are read beforehand by all participants and most of the conference is dedicated to discussion of the papers, both by selected discussants and by the other participants.

Best regards,

Dick Stegewerns
University of Oslo

CALL FOR PAPERS

NAJS 2014 - The Tenth NAJS Conference on the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society, March 20-21, 2014, Helsinki, Finland.

You are most welcome to the Tenth Annual NAJS Conference. The conference will take place at the University of Helsinki.

We invite paper proposals on a broad set of topics related to Japanese society and culture, past and present, including politics and international relations, economy and business, sociology and anthropology, popular culture, literature, religion, and art.

Registration forms and more information about the conference can be found on the NAJS website:
http://nordicjapan.wordpress.com

Please read the guide for participation (also on the
website) before registering and sending your abstract.

Deadline for abstracts: January 31, 2014 (Fri)

Deadline for full papers: March 10, 2014 (Mon)

Please submit abstracts and papers to:
bart.gaens@helsinki.fi
You will be notified if your abstract has been accepted by February 10 2014.

The Steering Committee of NAJS
(Nordic Association for the Study of Contemporary Japanese Society)

[SSJ: 8387] 【Notice】 Invitation to 89th GRIPS Forum on 20th January

※Please note that the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) will be closed for the year-end and New Year holidays from Saturday, December 28, 2013 until Sunday, January 5, 2014.

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) International Liaison Office

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on January 20, 2014.

*Please register at gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address by January 17 (Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Australian Ambassador Bruce Miller will speak to GRIPS on the new Australian Government’s approach to foreign and trade policy, and what that means for Australia’s relationships with Japan and with the wider region. The Indo-Pacific region - including Japan, China, South Korea, India, the ASEAN countries and Australia - accounts for a third of global GDP. By 2020, it could account for around one-third of global trade. The rapid economic transformation that has accompanied the region’s rise is bringing about a new and uncertain strategic environment. With this come both opportunities and risks. Japan has been front and centre of the new government’s thinking about Australia's place in the region, and how Australia will work with friends, neighbours and regional institutions to increase regional prosperity and security.
Ambassador Miller will address how Australia and Japan’s bilateral ties will be enhanced across the board to take on these challenges, covering the bilateral defence and strategic relationship, economic and trade relations and new initiatives for people-to-people links.

Speakers’ Profile:
Mr. Bruce Miller has been Australian Ambassador to Japan since August 2011. Mr. Miller has spent most of his career working on foreign policy, dealing with Australia's relations with East Asia and Australian responses to regional and global security issues. From June 2009 until June 2011, he was the Deputy Director-General of the Office of National Assessments, an independent statutory body which reports to the Prime Minister and advises the Australian Government on international political, economic and strategic developments. He joined the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1986 and has had wide experience. He has served at the Australian Embassy Tokyo previously as Minister (Political) in 2004-08 and First Secretary then Counsellor in 1992-96.
Mr. Miller was born and grew up in Sydney. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (first class honours) in Japanese language, literature and history together with a major in Government; and a Bachelor of Laws, both from the University of Sydney. He speaks Japanese and enjoys art, literature and hiking.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

December 23, 2013

[SSJ: 8386] Postgraduate scholarships in East Asia Studies at Sheffield University

From: Katherine Gallagher
Date: 2013/12/23

The School of East Asian Studies (SEAS) at The University of Sheffield would like to invite applications for postgraduate scholarships for 2014/15 entry starting from 1 October 2014.
SEAS offers single country supervision on China, Japan and Korea as well as transnational processes and linkages. Applications covering both social science and humanities topics are welcome.

Please see our webpage for details:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/seas/researchdegrees/furtherinfo

The deadline for applications is 12pm on Monday 3 February 2014.
Late applications will not be accepted.

The cultural turn in the social sciences centers on meaning. Tools such as identities, codes, narratives, and frames have been deployed to understand human action. But all this work rests on the fact that these carriers are meaningful for people. But how?

Meaning is more than mere intelligibility. To understand its resonance, we have to see how emotions of various sorts direct and focus our attention, making us care about some things and not about others.

James M. Jasper is a sociologist best known for his research on theories of culture and politics. Not only is he a specialist on nuclear protest movements from a cultural view (The Art of Moral Protest. The University of Chicago Press) but has done in-depth research on energy policies in France, Sweden, and the United States. (Nuclear Politics. Princeton University Press) and the role of emotions in politics (Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements.
University of Chicago Press).

"Nuclear Energy After Fukushima: The
Choices Made by States" Akira Igata (Keio University, Graduate School of Law)

"Coalition Building between Heterogeneous Organizations in the Biodiversity Policy Arena Kenjiro Fujita (Tokyo University, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology)

"What are the Relations of a Global and Local Social Movement?:A Case Study of Iwaishima"
Yousuke Tastuno (Sophia University, Graduate School of Global Studies)

"Meaning and Frame Resonance in the Linkage of Social Movement Groups: Comparing Three Mile Island and Fukushima"
Risa Murase (Sophia University, Graduate School of Global Studies)

Commentators
Akira Suzuki (Professor, Hosei University) David Slater (Associate Professor, Sophia University) Special Guest: James M. Jasper (Professor, City University of New York)

James M. Jasper is a sociologist best known for his research on cultural and emotional aspects of human agency in social movements. Based on these perspectives, he has analyzed nuclear protest movements

(The Art of Moral Protest. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997). He has also conducted in-depth comparative research on energy policies in the United States, France, and Sweden (Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990)

Themes
The goal of this symposium is twofold: to understand the multiple meanings of "nuclear" and to explore the logic behind each of these meanings. In the 20th century, confrontations by the use of force were dominant, as were illustrated by the two world wars. With the development of technology, such battle fronts have extended rapidly to the area of culture, specifically the area of meanings attributed to issues that are problematic and contested. In fact, we can conceptualize the battle

front as "space" wherein multiple and often contradictory meanings are being cast over the issues at stake. In this symposium, we focus on the battle of meanings, and explore the complexity of contestation across multiple actors in the global society.

David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Director of the Institute of Comparative Culture Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Faculty of Liberal Arts, Graduate Program in Japanese Studies Sophia University, Tokyo

"Why Interest Groups Still Matter in Japanese
Elections: An Organizational Perspective"
-------------------------------------------------------

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies
(WOJUSS) would like to invite you to a seminar on Jan 16, 2014. Please see the details below.
Please RSVP at info-wojuss[at]list.waseda.jp or visit our event website at http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/.

[Abstract]
In the wake of Japan's 1994 electoral reforms, many scholars predicted that interest groups would gradually lose their longstanding influence in elections. While groups are certainly much weaker today than they were a generation ago, recent electoral trends indicate that they may be experiencing something of a revival. To explain this puzzle, I offer an alternative interpretation of interest group influence that emphasizes organizational factors. Specifically, I show how organizational complementarities between large, nationally oriented groups and the two main parties continue to position those groups to coopt a number of electoral functions, including vote mobilization, the coordination of vote gathering across constituencies, and electoral monitoring. I illustrate these findings with reference to associations of postmasters and farmers and assess their implications for median voter theories.

[Short Biography]
Patricia L. Maclachlan received her PhD in comparative politics from Columbia University in 1996 and was a research associate at Harvard University's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations from 1995-96. After working for one year as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Calgary's Department of Political Science, she joined the University of Texas in 1997, where she is now Associate Professor of Government and Asian Studies. She also served as director of UT's Center for East Asian Studies from 2007-2010.
Dr. Maclachlan's research focuses on the politics and political economy of Japan. Her publications include Consumer Politics in Postwar
Japan: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism (Columbia University Press, 2002), The Ambivalent Consumer: Questioning Consumption in East Asia and the West (Cornell University Press, 2006), which she co-edited with Sheldon Garon, and The People's Post Office: The History and Politics of the Japanese Postal System, 1871-2010 (Harvard University East Asia Center, 2011).

[Commentator]
Aiji Tanaka
Professor, Waseda University

[Moderator]
Kuniaki Nemoto
Assistant Professor, Waseda University

[Language]
English

Please send any inquiries about the event to info-wojuss[at]list.waseda.jp.

[SSJ: 8382] 【Notice】 Invitation to 88th GRIPS Forum on 6th January

※Please note that the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) will be closed for the year-end and New Year holidays from Saturday, December 28, 2013 until Sunday, January 5, 2014.

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) International Liaison Office

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on January 6.

*Please register at gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address by December 27 (Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

After the collapse of bridges on interstate freeway, “America in Ruins” was published in early 1980’s which brought the impact on the improvement of the policies for aged infrastructures and related research activities. However, bridge accidents have occurred almost every year still now. The research on asset management for infrastructure and the measurements have been implemented in Japan, and additional policies were introduced especially after the collapse of the Sasago Tunnel in 2012. In this forum the lessons from the US experience and require policies in engineering and institution will be discussed.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

* William Flavin assumed the job as the Assistant Director at the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, located at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in July 2013. Before this assignment he was the head of the Doctrine and Education Division in PKSOI. From 1995 to 1999, he was a Colonel in the US Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe. He was a senior fellow at CSIS for his Army War College year and taught at the Army War College.
** The nature and complexities of today’s multi-dimensional operations are such that no single organization, department, or agency has all the requisite resources, authority, or expertise to single-handedly provide an effective response. While the military normally focuses on reaching clearly defined and measurable objectives within given timelines under a command structure, civilian organizations are concerned with fulfilling changeable political, economic, social, and humanitarian interests using dialogue, bargaining, risk taking, and consensus building. Harnessing the power of disparate organizations with different priorities and procedures is a daunting task. As such, collaboration among various military, governmental, non-governmental, and civilian agencies with the host nation is needed to achieve a common goal.

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:James Manicom, Research Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada Moderator:Matthew Linley, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Temple University Japan Campus
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

The territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands has repeatedly strained Sino-Japanese relations.
However, the tensions over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands are only a part of a long history of both conflict and cooperation in maritime relations between Japan and China. Based on his new book Bridging Troubled Waters, James Manicom will examine the cooperative history between China and Japan at sea and explains the conditions under which two rivals can manage disputes over issues that are often correlated with war. Manicom advances an approach that offers a trade-off between the most important stakes in the disputed maritime area with a view to establishing a stable maritime order in the East China Sea.

Speaker

James Manicom is a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada. Previously, he held fellowships at the Ocean Policy Research Foundation in Tokyo and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. James’ current research explores Arctic governance, East Asian security, and China's role in ocean governance. His first book, Bridging Troubled Waters: China, Japan and Maritime Order in the East China Sea will be published in the Spring of 2014 by Georgetown University Press.

December 15, 2013

[SSJ: 8378] MA/PhD funding at Manchester University

From: Peter Cave
Date: 2013/12/15

Apologies for cross-posting. I would like to draw the attention of list members to MA/PhD funding opportunities in East Asian Studies at Manchester University.

The subject area of East Asian Studies at The University of Manchester is pleased to invite applications for PhD studentships. We welcome applications from outstanding candidates for 2014・5
entry in the following areas of PhD research:
Chinese Studies
Japanese Studies
East Asian Studies
General information about the PhD programme in East Asian Studies and research interests is available from:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/researchdegree
s/researchdegrees/bysubject/?index=ES

For how to apply to the PhD programme online, see:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/howtoapply/

The following funding competitions are now open:
1. AHRC North West Consortium funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK): full fees and maintenance (eligibility rules apply - students who can be considered 'UK students' are eligible for funding of fees and maintenance, non-UK EU students for funding of fees only - successful candidates may be awarded a maintenance bursary by the university).
Application Form and Guidance:
http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/fees/postgraduate-resea
rch-funding/
For more information on the NWC DTP please visit www.nwcdtp.ac.uk
Deadline for programme applications: 31 JANUARY 2014.
Deadline for funding applications 21 FEBRUARY 2014.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by 14 April 2014.

2. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Open to research in the above subjects using a social science methodology, broadly conceived. Full fees and maintenance (eligibility rules apply as for 1).
Application Form and Guidance:
http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/fees/postgraduate-resea
rch-funding/
For the ESRC consortium of which The University of Manchester University is part, see http://www.nwdtc.ac.
uk/prospective.html
Deadline for programme applications 17 JANUARY 2014 Deadline for funding applications 3 FEBRUARY 2014 Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of March 2014.

3 President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Competition.
Students are eligible regardless of nationality and residence. Full fees and maintenance.
Application form and Guidance:
http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/fees/postgraduate-resea
rch-funding/
Deadline for programme applications 31 JANUARY 2014.
Deadline for funding applications 21 FEBRUARY 2014

4. School awards for PhD students. Students are eligible regardless of nationality and residence. These awards will be full for fees plus c. GBP 6,500 maintenance; or for fees only.
For details (some still to be confirmed), see:
http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/fees/postgraduate-resea
rch-funding/
Deadline for funding applications: 21 FEBRUARY 2014

5. Like other Japanese Studies departments at UK universities, we will be able to put names forward for new MA/PhD studentships to be offered by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation from 2014-15 onwards. 30 studentships of GBP 10,000 annually are expected to be available each year, and universities will apply on behalf of excellent students accepted on to their programmes in spring 2014. Students will be eligible regardless of nationality and residence. Further details will be available in due course.

December 14, 2013

[SSJ: 8377] Special lecture in Osaka: Japan’s Foreign Policy at Cross-roads: Towards a more amicable East Asia (Victor Teo, U. of Hong Kong)

From: Yoneyuki Sugita
Date: 2013/12/14

Dear Colleagues:

We are honored to have Dr. Victor Teo at Osaka University this coming Friday (20 December 2013).
He will be talking about US-Japan relations in East Asia.
This lecture is open to the public.
Only if you wish to attend a supper study meeting after the lecture, reservation is necessary.

******************
Special Lecture at Osaka University
(http://sugita.us/US122020132.htm)

（Synopsis）
Since 2010, tensions in East Asia have increased dramatically. In particular, Sino-Japanese relations have appeared to deteriorate considerably whilst the situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to pose considerable risks for the region. For Japan, these are critical times. Faced with the twin difficulties of aging population and economic recovery at home, Japan today possibly faces one of the most difficult situations in her external relations since the Second World War. Yet, a careful scrutiny would reveal that Japan’s greatest foreign policy challenge might not emanate from tensions with China or North Korea but rather from her relations with her main alliance partner - the United States. This talk first touches on recent developments of Japan-US relations by focusing on two important themes. First, this paper discusses how developments in Japan-United States affect Japan-China relations. Second, this paper examines how Japan today is at a crossroads in its foreign relations with Asia and the World, and considers possible ways forward for Japanese foreign policy. Finally the paper would conclude with a short discussion on the limitations of the conceptual lens used by International Relations scholars on the study of Japan and East Asian politics, and how they may well inhibit the envisioning of better relations in the region.

Victor Teo is Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He obtained his Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His research interests are in the field of International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, with particular emphasis on Sino-Japanese Relations. He is currently working on a monograph which considers identity formation, threat perceptions and China's post War relations with Japan and Russia.

We will have a “supper study gathering” between 17:30 and 19:00 with Professors Victor Teo and Toru Oga after the lecture. Graduate students and younger (at heart) scholars present their “state of their research”
for 3-5 minutes in English and both Professors Teo and Oga will respond/give comments. This is an informal meeting over supper.
Reservation is necessary for this gathering. (for reservation, send a note to Yoneyuki Sugita:
sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp)

For any inquiry, please send note to Yoneyuki SUGITA sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp

********************************************
China's ADIZ and the Japan-US response
Japan and the U.S. will need to carefully calibrate their response to China's new Air Defense Identification Zone.

by Robert Dujarric
(c) The Diplomat 7 December 2013

Beijing's creation of a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is the latest challenge to Japanese control of the Senkaku (Diaoyu) islands. More significantly, it fits into the rollback strategy against the American military dominion in the western Pacific.

The ADIZ move is not confrontational compared to the intrusions of Chinese government vessels into Senkaku territorial waters, although if the PLA Air Force were to take hostile measures in international air space against foreign aircraft, the consequences would be more serious. So far, it has not.

Japan and the United States can respond in several ways. They can take a minimalist approach. This entails refusing to comply with the ADIZ for military and official (such as coast guard) aircraft, but otherwise abstaining from action. A maximalist approach would make life harder for Chinese airlines in Japan and the U.S. (inspections, delays at immigration, tedious security checks for the crews), embargoing critical U.S.-made spare parts for Chinese Boeing and Airbus jetliners, and so forth.

If the Chinese Communist Party is on a warpath against what it sees as an American empire in decadent decline, harsh countermeasures are needed to make it obvious that the U.S. and its partners won't cave. If China is not about to start a fight, then there is no need to add fuel to the fire. Unfortunately, Clausewitz'
insight that "three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty" applies to diplomacy as well.
The Prussian thinker continued, calling for a "A sensitive and discriminating judgment (.) to scent out the truth."

The Korean angle is important in calibrating the U.S.
and Japanese response. The Chinese ADIZ threatens Korean maritime claims. But the Republic of Korea (ROK) is vulnerable to Chinese pressure, both politically on account of China's ties with North Korea, and economically. This makes it harder for Seoul to take a hard line, though it did not hide its opposition to the ADIZ. It is easier for the U.S. and Japan to forge a "common front" with the ROK if they adopt a firm but mild attitude towards China.

Additionally, Korean displeasure at China may open the door to an improvement of Korea-Japan ties. This will not happen quickly given the poisoned emotional politics of this relationship, but it should affect U.S. and Japanese calculus.

A "soft" response to the ADIZ episode does not preclude beefing up the U.S. and Japanese militaries. China's moves also provides further assistance in developing a broader anti-PRC coalition for the U.S. and Japan.
Numerous countries in China's neighborhood, including perhaps Russia, worry about Beijing. However, they wish to avoid confronting it if at all possible. If they perceive Washington and Tokyo as being warmongers, they will not cooperate with them. However, if they think that the U.S. and Japan are geared towards appeasement, they will kowtow to Beijing. Hence the importance for the U.S. and Japan to invest in their armed forces, but to do so calmly.

The Middle Kingdom is undergoing an unfinished metamorphosis that began more than a century ago. It may yet end tragically for everybody but this is far from certain. Fortunately for the U.S. and Japan, China is far weaker than the West. Growth has made the PRC highly vulnerable. The People's Republic is integrated into trade routes that are at the mercy of the U.S.
Navy and Air Force and their allies. Chinese require raw materials and technology imported from U.S. allies or areas the U.S. can control. The U.S. and its partners can confiscate many of China's overseas securities and property. The children of the Communist Party ruling strata (as well as many spouses) are living in luxury in North America, Australia, and the U.K., ready to be interned as enemy aliens.

Comparisons with pre-1914 Germany are mistaken. China is less stable than Germany was on the eve of the Great War. The Kaiser's realm was then the most scientifically advanced country on earth, which China is not. Finally, the German elite took seriously its duty to serve emperor and country. There is no indication that the children of the rich and powerful in China want to give up the pleasures of Western campuses followed by the rewards of global finance for the honor of wearing the PLA uniform.

Moreover, China is less dangerous than the late U.S.SR was. Moscow wanted to exterminate capitalism from this planet, making muscular deterrence and sometimes offensive action the only option. Its militarized economy created a formidable Eurasian force despite relative penury. Its autarkic system was relatively invulnerable to anything but the application of crushing power against the Soviet homeland itself.

Clausewitz wrote: "war most closely resembles a game of cards." The game with China - which is not a war for the time being - is one where the U.S.-led alliances hold a stronger hand, but they will still need to play it well if they are to prevail.

Robert Dujarric is Director, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan (robertdujarric@gmail.com).

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

December 09, 2013

[SSJ: 8375] [Temple ICAS Event] 9 JAN 2014 Michael Cucek: Abe Shinzo one year on - What have we learned?

From: ICAS
Date: 2013/12/09

* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Michael Cucek: Abe Shinzo one year on - What have we learned?
-------------------------------

Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker: Michael Cucek, Research Associate with the MIT Center for International Studies
Moderator: Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP: icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
-------------------------------

Overview

Japan’s politics will likely enter the New Years in a highly enervated state. Effort to sell the Official Secrets Act floundered, requiring humiliating negotiations with the opposition ending in a dictatorial denouement to screams of protest. The Supreme Court declared the map of electoral districts crafted to defeat constitutional challenge unfair -- guaranteeing continued strife over the issue. Meanwhile, another set of cases challenging the constitutionality of the House of Councillors election wend their way to the Supreme Court.

Relations with China and South Korea are at their lowest ebb in memory, with China pursuing what seems an inexorable escalation toward open conflict. Should the Prime Minister make good on hints in the direction of a visit to Yasukuni, the publics of South Korea and China will erupt. As for a revival of the economy, median incomes need to rise, meaning the corporate sector has to be more adventurous and generous. For international investors to continue to have faith in Abenomics, they must see meaningful Third Arrow structural reforms. With the Administration’s recent all-consuming focus on security, the economic program seems to have been relegated to the back burner.

The Abe Administration has nevertheless had a remarkable run of good fortune and smart decisions. It has reason to feel proud of itself and its leaders still exude a stunning sense of confidence.

What are the Abe Cabinet’s and ruling party’s plans for 2014? Will they have a have the political momentum and maintain the internal cohesion necessary to achieve them in a meaningful way?

Do join us for ICAS first event of the new year for a look at we have learned in the year after the start of the second Abe administration and what we should be looking for in 2014.

Speaker

Michael Cucek is a Research Associate with the MIT Center for International Studies. He is the author of the blog Shisaku: Marginalia on Japanese Politics and Society and is a contributor to Foreign Policy, the East Asia Forum, Al-Jazeera and International Herald Tribune’s Latitude blog. An independent political analyst, he has been living in Tokyo since 1994.

[SSJ: 8374] New book on the Basel Capital Accord and Japan

From: Chey Hyoung Kyu
Date: 2013/12/09

Apologies for cross-posting

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the recent publication of my new book: International Harmonization of Financial Regulation? The Politics of Global Diffusion of the Basel Capital Accord (London and New York: Routledge).

Hardcover: 232 pages
ISBN-10: 0415812429
ISBN-13: 978-0415812429

Summary:

It is often argued that international financial regulation has been substantially strengthened over the past decades through the international harmonization of financial regulation. There are, however, still frequent outbreaks of painful financial crises, including the recent 2008 global financial crisis. This raises doubts about the conventional claims of the strengthening of international financial regulation.
This book provides an in-depth political economy study of the adoptions in Japan, Korea and Taiwan of the 1988 Basel Capital Accord, the now so-called Basel I, which has been at the center of international banking regulation over the past three decades, highlighting the domestic politics surrounding it. The book illustrates that, despite banks' formal compliance with the Accord in these countries, their compliance was often cosmetic due to extensive regulatory forbearance that allowed their real capital soundness to weaken. Domestic politics thus ultimately determined national implementations of the Accord. This book provides its novel innovative study of the Accord through scores of interviews with bank regulators and analysis of various primary documents. It suggests that the actual effectiveness of international financial regulation relies ultimately on the domestic politics surrounding it. It implies as well that the past trend of international harmonization of financial regulation may be illusory, to at least some extent, in terms of its actual effectiveness.
This book may interest not only political economists but also scholars working on the intersection of law, economics and institutions.

(Although this book does not focus exclusively on Japan, it does include significant new findings related to Japan and the Basel Accord: [1] The book provides a novel analysis of the role of Japan in the creation of the Accord, demonstrating that Japan successfully managed to conclude it in ways that protected its own interest. This finding challenges the long-prevailing view that Japan was the major victim of the Accord. [2] The book also explains the political factors that caused Japan's failure in bank capital regulation through the 1990s and early 2000s.)

* International Harmonization of Financial Regulation?
The Politics of Global Diffusion of the Basel Capital Accord (London and New York: Routledge, 2013)
http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415812429

What distinguishes this book from previous studies is that it introduces an integrative political economic approach to the study of popular culture and offers a big-picture view of the dramatic changes that have taken place in popular culture production and circulation in Asia.

The book traces the rise of Japan as a popular culture powerhouse, the creation of markets for Japanese cultural commodities in Asia since the late 1980s, the industrial and normative impact that Japanese cultural industries have on the structure of the local cultural industries, the growing involvement of the Japanese state, and the wider implications these processes have for the Asian region.

I'v posted Table of Context below together with two endorsements. I hope you'll find the book interesting.

Best,

Nissim

Preface ix

Introduction: Popular Culture and Regionalization xv

Chapter 1 The Political Economy of Popular Culture 1

Chapter 2 Popular Culture and the East Asian Region 18

Chapter 3 Japan's Popular Culture Powerhouse 51

Chapter 4 The Creation of a Regional Market 90

Chapter 5 Japan's Regional Model 125

Chapter 6 Conclusion: Japanese Popular Culture and the Making of East Asia 161

Notes 185

References 197

Index 221

"In this highly original book Nissim Otmazgin offers a compelling analysis of the regionalization of the Japanese popular culture industries and its effect on regionalization processes in East Asia. He situates his provocative analysis at the intersection of the organizational characteristics of Japan's popular culture industries and the bottom-up process of regionalization of commodified culture in East Asia.
The book thus brings into sharp focus phenomena that are typically viewed in a blur or simply neglected.
Deeply accomplished, this admirable book should command the attention of all serious students of popular culture and of East Asia." -Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University

"This highly informative book provides a comprehensive examination of the successful deployment of Japanese popular culture throughout East Asia. Surveying a broad spectrum of cultural products, including games, animation, and TV drama, it argues both that there is a Japanese model to popular cultural production and that that model of cultural commodification has contributed to the regionalization of East Asia. The use of extensive interviews with diverse stakeholders, including both industry personnel and audience, provides a fresh approach to the subject that will satisfy a growing interest in Japanese popular culture in university curriculum." -Lisa Leung, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

December 06, 2013

[SSJ: 8372] 【Notice】 Invitation to 87th GRIPS Forum on 16th December

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2013/12/06

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on December 16.

*Please register at gripsforum@grips.ac.jp with your name, affiliation, job title, phone number or email address by December 13 (Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

In the 21st century, we are witnessing a dynamic change of the world system. Some developing countries have enjoyed significant economic growth, changing their status from middle-income countries into high-income ones, and some have even emerged as world-leading economies.
On the other hand, we see some countries that are still suffering with conflicts and/or fragile domestic conditions. They have made limited progress on poverty reduction, health, and/or education issues, thus, threats to their "human security" remain.
With this context in mind, I will try to touch upon Japanese experiences from development assistance extended to Asia, Latin America and Africa and to discuss challenges that Japan is currently facing in conducting its policy for international cooperation.

Speakers’ Profile:
Akihiko Tanaka is President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Before assuming the present post, he was Professor of International Politics at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies and at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo. Most recently he was Vice President of the University of Tokyo (2011-2012), Executive Vice President of the University of Tokyo(2009-2011),and Director of the Division for International Affairs of the University of Tokyo(2008-2010).
Tanaka obtained his Ph. D. in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology andhis bachelor’
s degree in International Relations at the University of Tokyo.
His areas of specialization include theories of international politics, contemporary international relations in East Asia, and Japan’s foreign policy. He has been a member of various advisory groups for the Prime Minister, including the Council on Security and DefenseCapability (2009 and 2004), the Council for Reforming the Ministry of Defense (2007-2008), and the Council on Legal Bases of Security Policy (2007).
He has numerous books and articles in Japanese and English including Posuto kuraishisu no sekai(The Post-Crisis World) (Tokyo: Nihon keizai shimbun shuppansha, 2009), Ajia no nakano Nippon(Japan and International Politics in Asia) (Tokyo: NTT shuppan, 2007), and the New Middle Ages: The World Systemin the 21stCentury (Tokyo: The International house of Japan, 2002).
Tanaka received the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 2012for his academic achievements.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

December 05, 2013

[SSJ: 8371] UNU Fukushima Global Communication Programme seminar

From: Christopher Hobson
Date: 2013/12/05

Dear Colleagues,

UNU has invited Dr. Repussard, Director General of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in France to participate in an international seminar on "Methods of Evaluating the Radioactive Effects of the Fukushima Nuclear Accidents". The seminar will take place on the afternoon of Friday 20 December and is being organized by the UNU Fukushima Global Communication Programme.

Please note that this is a closed event, and in order to attend you need to register online here:

14:10 Keynote Speech
Dr. Jacques Repussard, Director General, IRSN, "Forecasting, estimating, evaluating and communicating the environmental and public health effects of a major nuclear accident: How can Fukushima contribute to the development of international best practice?"

The Book
There is a lack of knowledge on how corporations in Asia develop strategies, organize their work processes and deal with competition.
Western managers and business students need to know more about Asian corporations and their management styles. Learning about Asia, however, has always been a challenging task. The main challenge is the complexity encountered when dealing with Asian management issues, which differ not only for different countries, but also for different types of businesses, not to mention national management preferences and styles.
This book tries to fill this gap, by presenting case studies of various Asian countries including China, Japan, India, Korea and The Philippines.
The case studies are as diverse as management activities in Asia can be and include a variety of different companies in several Asian countries.
This book attempts to present an overview on the variety and complexity of management and business processes in Asian countries. It intends to support business people and students of international management to get a deeper understanding of Asian management practices by presenting practical examples of Asian firms and their strategies.

Contents
Introduction

The People's Republic of China
FamilyMart's China Expansion
Alibaba: Facing Its Thieves
Li Ning: Make the Change
Shiseido in China - When Politics Interferes with Business

Japan
UNIQLO: A Stitch in Time
The Suntory Highball Revolution: Can a Type of Drink Save an Industry?
A Tale of Three Companies: The Survival Strategies of Sony, Hitachi, and Canon

India
Doing It the Toyota Way in India? Managing Unsettled Labor Relations at the Toyota Subsidiary in India

Korea
KIA MOTORS Facing Globalization Challenges

The Philippines
Brightening Philippine Airlines (PAL): Strategizing for the Future of Asia's Pioneer and Sunniest Air Transporter The Birth of the WATERCCOOP in Cagayan de Oro City

Following the nuclear catastrophe in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the great earthquake of March 11, 2011, Japan`s atomic industry has attracted much attention. Japan is located in one of the most seismically active regions of the world and, in the case of an accident nuclear energy is by far the most dangerous method of power generation.
Nevertheless, before the accident, Japan operated 54 commercially used nuclear reactors. After the Triple Disaster, the question of how and why Japan had become so dependent on nuclear energy was examined from different perspectives. Especially the so called nuclear village, a strongly interwoven network consisting of representatives of politics, bureaucracy, science, the media, and economy, has been at the centre of analysis. The role of the scientists, however, seems to have received little attention thus far.

In order to provide new insights into the role of nuclear power in Japan, my talk will focus on the position of Japanese physicists after the end of the Second World War. I will particularly address the question of how they contributed to the launch of nuclear energy in Japan, both on a social and a political level. Based on some well-known physicists, who played a prominent role in the 1950s and 1960s, the talk will offer insights into how the involvement of scientists contributed to achieving certain public policy objectives in early post-war Japan.

Franziska John is a PhD candidate at the University of Leipzig where she studied Japanese Studies and Physics.
As a doctoral fellowship recipient at the German Institute for Japanese Studies she currently carries out research for her PhD thesis on Japanese physicists and their involvement in the introduction process of nuclear energy to Japan.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Torsten Weber.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(weber@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

Please also allow me to remind you of the last DIJ Forum of 2013 on Thursday, 5 December 2013, 18.30h by Professor Andrew J. Sutter (Rikkyo University Tokyo) who will speak on "Public Happiness in Japan: A Qualitative Approach".

[SSJ: 8368] CJG Announcement for December 16--Kenneth Mori McElwain

From: Gregory W. NOBLE
Date: 2013/12/02

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, a.k.a. Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by Kenneth Mori McElwain (Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of
Michigan):

What's Different about Japan's Constitution?
Constitutional
Adaptability in Comparative Perspective

*Monday*, December 16 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Akamon General Research Building (Akamon Sōgō Kenkyū-tō) Rm. 549, Institute of Social Science (Shaken), Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo:
http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/contact/

Abstract:
As the oldest un-amended constitution in the world, the Constitution of Japan (COJ) challenges conventional theories in two ways. First, most constitutions undergo periodic tinkering to remain relevant. Social preferences, political balances of power, and cultural norms all change over time, and a constitution’s survival is correlated with its ability to adapt via amendments. Second, constitutions that are written under foreign occupations tend to have shorter lifespans. Imposed institutions and rights are more likely to be at odds with domestic priorities, especially when compared to constitutions that have been designed and ratified democratically. I explore whether the COJ’s survival is linked to its “nature”—its contents and historical origin—using data from over 700 constitutions since the 18th century. My analysis will highlight one distinctive feature of the COJ: it is uncommonly vague in specifying the structure and operation of government institutions. I argue that this vagueness—in contrast with the detailed enumeration of civil rights—gives political actors more leeway to alter institutions to match social needs or maximize partisan goals. In other words, the COJ has never been amended formally because its structure allows for “informal”
adaptation via Supreme
Court rulings or Diet legislation. I will also discuss ongoing amendment initiatives, and whether revisions being proposed today—particularly by the LDP—make the COJ more “normal” in comparative context.

Biography:
Kenneth Mori McElwain is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focuses on the politics of institutional design, including the manipulation of electoral rules and the democratization of political parties. His current project examines the evolution and survival of national constitutions. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University, and an A.B.
in Public Policy
and International Affairs from Princeton University. He is a coeditor of Political Change in Japan: Electoral Behavior, Party Realignment, and the Koizumi Reforms (Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University), and his research has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of East Asian Studies, Journal of Social Science, and in numerous edited volumes.

CJG:
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

（Synopsis）
The Asian and European parliaments meet each other every two years within the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process. The cooperation, which started in 1996, is part of a bigger trend of internationalization of parliamentary activities, which has often been seen as a response to globalization and as a way to democratize international relations.
Although the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership
(ASEP) seeks to contribute to and influence the ASEM leaders' summit, it still remains more or less outside the official, governmental ASEM process. The lecture introduces the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership, its main features, possibilities and challenges and relationship vis-a-vis the ASEM process.

Silja Keva is a University Teacher at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland. She is currently writing her doctoral dissertation on the Asia-Europe Meeting process. In 2006 Silja Keva worked as a researcher in the "Ten Years of ASEM" research project commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and in addition helped to organize the ASEM6 Summit in Helsinki.

We will have a “supper study gathering” between 18:30 and 20:00 with Silja Keva after the above lectures.
Graduate students and younger (at heart) scholars present their “state of their research” for 3-5 minutes in English and Silja Keva will respond/give comments. This is an informal meeting over supper.
Reservation is necessary for this gathering. (for reservation, send a note to Yoneyuki Sugita:
sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp)

In the first half of the twentieth century, the city of Wuxi, one hundred kilometers to the West of Shanghai, was transformed from a small trading center into the largest industrial city in China outside treaty ports.
This paper describes how commercial elites and Republican officials shaped the rural and urban built environment and argues that by 1937 urbanization had affected the lives of everyone living in the Lower Yangtze Delta. Despite the destruction of the Japanese invasion in 1937, Wuxi City and the surrounding countryside recovered. In telling this story, I investigate the limits of the Japanese occupation and argue that to truly understand the history of urbanization in China it must be considered in the context of both war and peace.

Toby Lincoln is lecturer in Modern Chinese Urban History at the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester. After graduating from the University of Oxford with a D.Phil in 2009, he spent a year as a postdoctoral associate at the Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University. His first book project focuses on the urbanization of the Lower Yangtze delta region in the first half of the twentieth century.
Other work addresses the relationship between urban development and war, and the history of urban planning in China. His most recently published article was "From Riots to Relief: Rice, Local Government and Charities in Occupied Central China." in Food and War in Mid-Twentieth-Century East Asia, edited by Katarzyna J.
Cwiertka, Ashgate, 2013, 11-28.

Tel/Fax _____________________________ Email _________________________________
This event is jointly sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Tokyo Office and Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP).

Net neutrality became a major issue in the United States in 2007 when Comcast was revealed to have “blocked” the Bit Torrent traffic, which resulted in a number of legal challenges in the courts, and calls for government action. Since then, net neutrality has continued to be a hot issue for policy discussions in the U.S. There have also been extensive debates in the European Union over net neutrality, which will orientate future regulations for telecommunications. Despite the heated nature of these debates, almost no discussion of the issue has taken place in Japan. However, since the Internet involves global flows of information, Japan cannot continue to ignore this important issue.
During the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, December 2012, participant countries were severely divided in their opinions over the question of how best to govern the Internet. The division originated from their views of who should bear the costs of infrastructure investment, which is closely related to network neutrality. This question is of crucial interest to both developed and developing countries.
The book, which will be the subject of this presentation, addresses questions related to the sound development of the broadband market, what we should expect from a regulatory system, and efforts to evaluate the quality of Internet experience.

Biographical Information

Toshiya Jitsuzumi: Professor in the Faculty of Economics, Kyushu University. He obtained a MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York University and a DSc from the Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunication Studies, Waseda University. His research focuses on communications policy as well as the economics of communications. Before assuming his current post, he worked for the former Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and for Japan Post. He previously taught at Nagasaki University, joining Kyushu University in 2004. He holds concurrent responsibilities as a senior researcher for the Institute for Information and Communications Policy, an invited researcher at the Waseda Institute for Digital Society and a fellow at the Global Communications Center of the Int’l University of Japan. His recent publications include: “IT Investments and its Performances in Japan: Management Strategies and Policy Initiatives”, Kyushu University Press, 2005; “Economics of the Telecom Industry 2.0”, Kyushu University Press, 2013. He was granted the Abe Fellowship in 2006 for his project: “Broadband Infrastructure, Competition, and Network Neutrality: A Comparative Analysis of Broadband Development Policies”.

November 28, 2013

[SSJ: 8363] Japan History Group, ISS, University of Tokyo, 11 December 2013

From: Naofumi Nakamura
Date: 2013/11/28

The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Wednesday,
11 December, at 6:00 PM in Conference Room No.1(Dai-Ichi Kaigishitsu) of the Institute of Social Science main Building.

Presenter: Alexandre Roy (JSPS Fellow, INALCO)

Title: 'The Expansion of the Japanese Coal Exports at the Eve of the 20th Century:
The Formation of a First "Japanese Eastern Asia" ?'

Discussant: Shinya Sugiyama (Professor, Keio
University)

Abstract:
The image of the Japanese Power expanding over the whole Eastern Asia is ordinarily limited to the military dimension of the Second World War. But before this, Japan already owned an economical "informal empire" and few know that it could be dated as far back to the 1890s. By 1900, the Japanese Coal Trade had already succeeded in dominating the Eastern Asia's coal market, from Shanghai to Singapore, including Hong Kong, with a share amounting to the three quarters of the whole demand. The historiography has explained this as the result of the growth of the Japanese coal industry stimulated by the intensification of the Imperialistic actions against China (so the Sino-Japanese War has been interpreted as the key-moment of the Expansion), suggesting that the competitors, English and Australian coals, have been "forced to move out from Asia". We will challenge this view in explaining the Japanese advance with regards to the global movements of the coal markets in the World at this time. Our work lead us to state that the Japanese advance has not faced fierce competition. but has rather benefited from the sudden absence of competitors in Eastern Asia: the English and Australian coals have actually fled away from this market to answer the huge growth demand in Europe and South America - marking the end of the Great Depression (1873-1893). Moreover, we will see that despite this opportunity, Japanese coals have been unable to expand toward India or across the Pacific. because of the growth of regional coal markets there too. Then the formation of the Japanese coal "Empire" in Eastern Asia then appears not as an isolate and unilateral phenomenon, but as a part of a global dynamic: a wide-scale regionalization of the coal markets in the World Economy related with the start of a new global Growth Cycle at the Eve of the Twentieth Century.

--
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo
naofumin[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

[SSJ: 8362] Article by Robert Dujarric - Why are Japan's apologies forgotten in The Diplomat

********************************************
http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/why-are-japans-apologies
-forgotten/
by Robert Dujarric
(c) The Diplomat 25 November 2013

The "history" debate that constantly attends Japan postulates that the country has never apologized for past aggression within the region. In fact, Japan has provided Asian countries with assistance that was a form of compensation. The Asian Women's Fund lacked clarity, but Tokyo offered payments to victims of sexual slavery. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama declared in 1995 that Japan's "colonial rule and aggression (.) caused tremendous damage and suffering," expressing his "remorse and (.) heartfelt apology."

Earlier, in 1993, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono spoke of "the involvement of the military authorities"
in the "comfort women" issue and added that "Japan would like (.) to extend its sincere apologies and remorse to all those (.) who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable (.) wounds." Several prime ministers wrote to surviving sex slaves noting that "with an involvement of the Japanese military (.) [it] was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women. (.) our country, painfully aware of its moral responsibilities, with feelings of apology and remorse, should face up squarely to its past."

This is far more apologizing and contrition than the world average.

So why has Japan gained so little recognition for these actions? One reason, noted previously, is that its Axis partner, Germany, has performed better on the atonement front. But this is not the only factor.

Another one is international politics. Strategic imperatives dictated that Israel, Western Europe and, after the Cold War, Central European states better their ties with the Federal Republic of Germany. In Asia, however, Japan's position has deteriorated. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), not wasting much time on the past, wanted Tokyo's money, which it got in vast amounts. Today, Beijing no longer needs the cash. Japan's ally, the U.S., has replaced the Soviets as the enemy. Moreover, the CCP now fosters Japanophobia to bolster its chauvinistic credentials.

South Korea was a poor autocracy when it normalized relations with Japan in 1965. It received Japanese economic assistance as part of the treaty, but Seoul indemnified Japan against claims related to the colonial era. Since democratization in the late 1980s, many Korean leaders have worked hard to better relations with Japan. However, there are also electoral incentives to play the "anti-Japan card." Being labeled "soft on Japan" is a curse. This is particularly true for President Park Geun-hye, whose father, the late general-president, began his rise as a lieutenant in the Army of Japanese Manchukuo (a patriotic choice, but one that carries an image problem today).

Economic success has freed South Korea from foreign assistance. Its judiciary is also now independent.
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1965 treaty with Japan violated the constitutional right of Koreans to seek redress against Japan. Japanese diplomacy has failed to adapt to this new era in Korean politics.

Finally, several Japanese leaders have eviscerated past apologies. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dispatches offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine, whose message is aggressively antagonistic to the Kono and Murayama views. Pilgrims at Yasukuni since Abe returned to power have included Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and Senior Vice Foreign Minister Nobuo Kishi, brother to the prime minister.

On November 4, 2012, a number of Japanese public figures ran an ad in a U.S. newspaper. It denied that the military coerced comfort women, going against the letter and spirit of Japanese official policy. Among the "assentors" listed are Shinzo Abe, who was about to return as premier, and other politicians. The text provides links to "The Nanking Hoax" and similar articles. Abe now officially accepts the Kono and Murayama statements, but his unconcealed love of Yasukuni, the behavior of those he has appointed to high office, and his indirect affiliation with "deniers" ensures that most foreigners and Japanese think he leads a cabinet of "revisionists.

Koreans also noted reports that Japanese diplomats complained to a New Jersey town about a memorial to the "comfort women." (The Japanese side was unwilling to discuss the matter, so the facts remain unclear.) This occurred under the DPJ administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, showing that the LDP is not the only source of hostility to the Murayama-Kono statements.

Additionally, Japan claims ownership of the Korean-controlled Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese). This elicits anger in Korea.
The posting of Japanese government videos on Japan's right to Takeshima helps convince South Koreans that Japan is its foe.

Another recent episode, which is minor but illustrative, concerns Ahn Jung-guen, the Korean assassin of the Japanese Resident General in Korea in 1909. Referring to plans to erect an Ahn statue in China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called him a "criminal." One of my alma maters, Yale University, boasts a sculpture of Nathan Hale, a colonial subject and activist who, like Ahn, was hanged by the authorities of the day. But one would not imagine Her Britannic Majesty's government taking offense. Former colonies routinely honor those who fought the occupiers, often in barbaric ways.

Interestingly, in 1964, Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (Abe's grand-uncle) awarded the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun to the American General Curtis LeMay, whose B-29s incinerated Japanese cities during the war.
Koreans might be surprised to learn that Ahn, who like the American aviator considered he was waging a just war on Japan, is a "criminal" but that LeMay belongs to a select group of foreigners granted prestigious decorations (he was thanked for his work with the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces, but it is unlikely premier Sato was unaware of that LeMay's men killed around 100,000 civilians in Tokyo alone).

The Ahn statue in China rightly worries Tokyo, which it sees as a sign of a Sino-Korean bloc against Japan. But the more Japan fails to see how Koreans view the past, the more Koreans will dislike Japan.

Reaping dividends from the Kono and Murayama Statements, apologies, and compensation, was always going to be hard. Japan's current cabinet, and some of its predecessors, have done everything they can to minimize the payout.

Robert Dujarric is director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University Japan.
E-mail him at: robertdujarric@gmail.com

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

November 26, 2013

[SSJ: 8361] Reading about Japan at I-House Library, Tokyo

Monday, December 9, 2013, 7:00 pm
The Library, International House of Japan
Language: English (Without Japanese interpretation)
Admission: 500 yen (Members and Library members:
free)*Reservations required

Karen Tei Yamashita (1951-) is Professor of Literature/Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 2011 she was named a Fellow of United States Artists. Yamashita’s relationship with Japan started in
1971 when she attended Waseda University as an exchange student to research her ancestry. In 1974, she went to Brazil on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study the history of Japanese immigration there, and she ended up staying in Brazil for ten years before returning to the USA.
Her works focus on the necessity of mulicultural communities and the destabilizing of orthodox notions of borders and national and ethnic identity.

In this reading session, Gayle Sato, a scholar of Asian American literature, will read from Yamashita’s third novel, Tropic of Orange (1997), which reflects her vision of American society from the perspective of her family’s immigrant experience, bringing her understanding of Brazil and Japan into relationship with the United States. This cultural triangulation of Japan/Brazil/America is fundamental to Yamashita’s vision and craft as a writer.

Through this session, Sato will talk about what a Japanese American point of view asks about Japan, and how a Japanese American point of view places Japan in relationship with the United States. Karen Tei Yamashita will be present.

Gayle K. Sato, Ph.D., is Professor of English at Meiji University, Tokyo. She is co-author of America Viewed from the Asian Periphery:
1850-1950
(Sairyusha, 2010) and co-editor of Reading Japanese American Literature :Legacy of Three Generations (Sogensha, 1999).
Her articles and essays have appeared in Amerasia Journal, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, The Japanese Journal of American Studies, MELUS, and Paradoxa.

Kristin Surak
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Japanese Politics at SOAS, University of London

18:30-20:00
Dec. 13, 2013
Sophia University Building 10, 3F, Room 301

Few practices are simultaneously as exotic and representative, esoteric and quotidian, instrumental and sensual, political and cultural as the Japanese tea ceremony. While most Japanese have never participated in a formal tea gathering, and to many its arcane procedures remain rather alien, the practice is all but universally recognized as a defining constituent of Japanese culture, integrating arts, manners, and sensibilities deemed peculiarly characteristic of the nation into a single, striking form. This talk will explore how it is that the tea ceremony serves as a site and instrument for evoking Japaneness, even within Japan where such ethonational associations might otherwise be taken for granted. First, drawing on Barthes, I will enter the flow of tea preparation to examine phenomenologically how an alternation of parallels with and contrasts to common features of everyday life in Japan facilitates an experience of Japaneseness within Japan. Second, I will turn attention towards the actions and interactions of tea practitioners themselves to investigate how they employ three modalities of ethnonational categorization to establish what precisely is "Japanese."

Kristin Surak is a Senior Lecturer (Associate
Professor) in Japanese Politics at SOAS, University of London who specializes in international migration, culture, ethnicity, and nationalism. Her book Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural Nationalism in Practice was published by Stanford University Press in 2013, and her articles have appeared in the European Journal of Sociology, International Migration Review, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Lettre International, Merkur, and the New Left Review. Her current research compares migration regimes and temporary migrant labor programs in East Asia and across the globe.
Lecture in English / No registration necessary

________________________________________
More ICC talks in December!

Dec. 2:
Twenty-One Haiku Lessons from The Book of Tea Michael Dylan Welch, Vice president of the Haiku Society of America
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13120
2_Welch.pdf

Japanese society has been undergoing tremendous transformations in recent years, with various new social trends emerging. One of them is the change in family organization and family life and in particular the role and identity of the father. The most well-known example of this is the rise of the so-called ikumen, i.e. men who actively engage in child rearing.
While Japanese fathers have been studied in the area of family sociology, research on recent changes in fatherhood in Japan and the ikumen in particular is still in its infancy. So far, no study has looked into the issue of consumer behavior of fathers in Japan and how consumption patterns change with fatherhood. The present research is a collaboration of two German-Japanese papa tomo (father friends) using a qualitative approach based on Consumer Culture Theory to study ikumen and the rise of fatherly consumption in Japan. This paper reports preliminary findings based on in-depth interviews with 13 pre-papas
(soon-to-be-fathers) and their spouses (pre-mamas).
These findings revolve around six major themes: ikumen/ child-rearing issues; fatherhood and paternal identity; parental/ paternity leave; religious/ spiritual celebrations and traditions; family budgeting; consumption of goods and services (both related and unrelated to child-rearing). Our empirical evidence suggests that fatherly consumption goes far beyond the mere purchase of goods and services connected to child rearing and reveals insights into the role of individual, family, and social identities in becoming a father and how they shape the consumer culture of fatherhood in Japan. (This research is done in collaboration with Kosuke Mizukoshi, Tokyo Metropolitan
University.)

Florian Kohlbacher is senior research fellow and head of the Business & Economics Section at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo. He holds both a master's degree and a doctorate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). His research focuses on business and consumer trends in Japan, especially in connection with social and demographic changes. He is author of International Marketing in the Network Economy: A Knowledge-Based Approach (Palgrave, 2007) and co-editor of The Silver Market Phenomenon: Marketing and Innovation in the Aging Society, 2nd ed. (Springer, 2011).

Lecture in English / No registration necessary

.......................................................
.......................................................
..........
More ICC talks in December!
Dec. 2:
Twenty-One Haiku Lessons from The Book of Tea Michael Dylan Welch, Vice president of the Haiku Society of America
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13120
2_Welch.pdf

Dec. 13:
Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural Nationalism in Practice Kristin Surak, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Japanese Politics at SOAS, University of London
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13121
3_Surak.pdf

November 22, 2013

[SSJ: 8358] Sophia University ICC lecture on Dec. 2

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2013

Twenty-One Haiku Lessons from The Book of Tea
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13120
2_Welch.pdf

Michael Dylan Welch
Vice president of the Haiku Society of America

17:30-19:00, December 2nd, 2013
Sophia University, Room 10-301

In 1906, Kakuzo Okakura published A Book of Tea, a short treatise on Japanese aesthetics exploring the medium of tea ceremony. This paper presents twenty-one aesthetic observations found in the book and applies them to the art and craft of writing haiku. While focusing on haiku written in English, this paper explores numerous aesthetic choices necessary for writing haiku, and addresses a number of questions that haiku writers have, such as whether haiku should focus just on the beautiful, balancing limitation and liberation, the role of modern technology as subject matter for an ancient and traditional art form, the problem of formula, and how to create a vacuum in haiku by leaving something out. The paper emphasizes attention and interpenetration as sources of haiku inspiration, the value of personal perspective as an extension of poetic voice, distinguishing between observation and inference, the mundane as transcendent, asymmetry, humility, implication, veracity, and community. The paper is framed by a description of visits to Kyoto's Ginkaku-ji Temple, and the role of Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1435-1490) in shaping the traditional aesthetics of Japan.

Michael Dylan Welch is vice president of the Haiku Society of America. He has won first place in each of the Henderson, Brady, Drevniok, and Tokutomi contests, among others, and has published his haiku, senryu, and other poems in hundreds of journals and anthologies. He has also published numerous books of poetry, including several books from Japanese, co-translated with Emiko Miyashita. One of their waka translations was featured on the back of 150 million U.S. postage stamps in March of 2012. Michael co-founded the Haiku North America conference and the American Haiku Archives, and founded both the Tanka Society of America and National Haiku Writing Month (NaHaiWriMo).
________________________________________
Upcoming lectures:
>From Private to Public: Portrait Photography and
Changing Social Mores in Late Meiji Japan
(25 Nov)
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13112
5_Fraser.pdf

[SSJ: 8357] Adjunct Lecture in Buddhist Culture

From: Alex Vesey
Date: 2013/11/22

Adjunct Lecturer Position in Buddhist Culture at Meiji Gakuin University

The Global and Transcultural Studies Department, Meiji Gakuin University, is searching for an adjunct lecturer for its KC3007 Buddhist Culture course. This is an upper-level, four-unit survey class that will be offered in the fall semester of the 2014 academic year.
The language of instruction is English. The instructor will be asked to introduce the fundamentals of Buddhism, and to examine the role of Buddhism in modern Asian/global society, but they are free to select their preferred materials and specific topics.
The appointment will begin in September 2014, and conclude in January 2015.

Applicants are requested to submit a letter of application, detailed CV or rirekisho, a sample syllabus, and information for three references to:

[SSJ: 8356] Adjunct lecturer in World History, Meiji Gakuin

From: Alex Vesey
Date: 2013/11/22

Adjunct Lecturer Position in Global History at Meiji Gakuin University

The Global and Transcultural Studies Department, Meiji Gakuin University, is searching for an adjunct lecturer for its 2-unit KC2100 Global History survey course. The language of instruction is English, and the course will be held on the Yokohama campus.
The appointment will begin in April 2014, and conclude in August 2014.

November 21, 2013

[SSJ: 8355] Invitation to the EIJS Academy seminar, December 4

From: Miki Futagawa
Date: 2013/11/21

European Institute of Japanese Studies Academy Seminars
presents:
"Japan's New Trade Policy in Asia-Pacific"

Speaker: Professor Shujiro Urata, Graduate School Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University About the speaker: Dr. Shujiro Urata is Professor of Economics at Graduate School Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He is also Research Fellow at the Japanese Centre for Economic Research (JCER), Faculty Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade & Industry (RIETI), and Senior Research Adviser for the Executive Director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in Jakarta. He is a former Research Associate at the Brookings Institution, an Economist at the World Bank. He specializes in International Economics and Economics of Development.
He has held a number of research and advisory positions including senior advisor to the Government of Indonesia, consultant to the World Bank, OECD, the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Japan.
His book publications in English include Multinationals and Economic Growth in East Asia, co-editor, Routledge, 2006, Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific, co-editor, World Scientific, 2010, Economic Consequences of Globalization: Evidence from East Asia, co-editor, Routledge,2012, and several other publications. Professor Urata received his B.A. in Economics from Keio University in 1973 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford University in 1976 and 1978.

About the talk: Promotion of free trade is one of the most important agenda in the third arrow of Abenomics.
Only twenty percent of Japan's total trade value was with FTA partner countries and regions in 2011. Japan entered Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in July but will have to make difficult decisions in order to achieve an ambitious and comprehensive outcome.
In the presentation we will hear Professor Urata's view on the outlook for Abenomics' trade policy and participation in the TPP in order to create further economic growth.
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Time: 6.30 p.m. – 7.00 p.m. Drink & Snack
7.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m. Lecture and Discussion

In 2005, the passage of "Takeshima Day" ordinance by Shimane prefecture has propelled the territorial dispute over the Takeshima/Dokdo islets to the fore of Japan's domestic discourse on bilateral relations with South Korea. So far, Shimane Prefecture's Takeshima related activism has been largely ignored by scholarship devoted to the dispute. Occasional references to the 2005 ordinance suggest that it was driven by a combination of nationalism and fisheries related interests. Based on extensive archival research in this talk I examine the fifty years of Shimane Prefecture's activities related to Takeshima and offer a different interpretation of this activism. I argue that in the early 1950s the prefectural authorities'
interest in the uninhabited rocks was instigated by the collapse of the colonial economic sub-zone that encompassed Shimane, Takeshima and Korea's Ulleung Island. From early 1960s, however, Shimane prefecture's Takeshima related activism was shaped and sustained by Tokyo's contradictory policy on Takeshima and the Northern Territories disputes. The talk suggests that the 2005 Takeshima Day ordinance was a logical continuation of previous policies and actions taken by the prefecture and concludes by analyzing the domestic political processes that enabled the passage of the ordinance despite Tokyo's reluctance.

Alexander Bukh holds an LLM in International Law from Tokyo University and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Prior to taking this appointment he held teaching positions at the University of Tsukuba and Waseda University in Japan.
Alexander has published a number of academic articles and book chapters on Japan-Russia relations and Japan's national identity and foreign policy. His latest publications include an article on Japan's quest for the Northern Territories published in the International Relations of Asia-Pacific and an edited volume chapter on early Soviet perceptions of Japan and China.
Alexander is the author of "Japan's Identity and Foreign Policy: Russia as Japan's Other" (Routledge
2009) which was translated to Russian and published in November 2012.

________________________________________
Upcoming lectures:

November 19 (Tonight): Hard-fisted piety: Christian militias in the Minahasa (Laurens Bakker) November 25: From Private to Public: Portrait Photography and Changing Social Mores in Late Meiji Japan (Karen M. Fraser) ________________________________________

Connecting Japan and the World. Sophia University in the International Context

This symposium is a platform to discuss Sophia University’s contribution to the internationalization of Japan during the twentieth century. Presenters will look at the international context in which the university was founded, the part played by the Society of Jesus in creating a highly international educational institution in prewar Japan, how the university has functioned as a bridge between Japanese and Euro-American academia, and its role in the accelerating internationalization of Japan’s higher education system in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Presentations will look at notable aspects of Sophia’s development and introduce projects that have shaped the university’s distinctive character as an educational and research institution with a strong international outlook. Some presentations also will give insights into Sophia University’s impact on the local development of Kioi-chô and Kôji-machi.

10.00 – 12.15 Panel 1: Origins of Sophia University: International and Local Sven Saaler: Introduction Rolf-Harald Wippich: The International Context of the Founding of Sophia University Tokumitsu Shukuji: The History of the Site of Sophia University: The Evolution of Modern Japan Encapsulated Shimada Masayuki: From the Austro-Hungarian Embassy to Sophia University Bettina Gramlich-Oka: An Evolving Campus, 1913-1938: Visual Impressions

12.15 – 13.30 Lunch Break
Sophia Then and Now: Images from photo collections in the Sophia University Archive (slide show)

13.30 – 15.00 Panel 2: Building and Expanding Intellectual Activities and Networks Kate Wildman Nakai: The Founding of Sophia University: Challenges and Connections Yajima Motomi: Sophia's Postwar Expansion: The Case of the Faculty of Law M. Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J.: Making Sophia’s Resources Available to the World: Kirishitan Bunko and the Laures Database

15.00 – 15.30 Coffee Break

15.30 – 17.15 Panel 3: Accelerating Internationalization and Diversification Harald Fuess: Sophia University and the two World Wars Christian Hess: Sophia University and SCAP David Wessels, S.J.: International Sophia: Jesuits, Asia, and the World Linda Grove: Women in Sophia University

Japanese educators, policymakers and employers realize that the country is dangerously behind in the race to foster professionals who can operate across national, cultural and linguistic barriers.

Japanese universities remain strikingly parochial, especially compared to their Asian peers. Young students and graduates are sadly unwilling or unable to either study abroad or work outside the archipelago for foreign corporations or international organizations.

Official and corporate Japan is seething to create a "globalized human capital" (global human resources).
Solutions offered to solve the shortage of Japanese with these skills range from altering university academic calendars to fit the Western one to increasing study abroad opportunities and internships in other nations. Improving linguistic ability, primarily but not solely English, is also on the menu.

Taking steps to internationalize the Japanese workforce is indeed important to the country's future. But in doing so, it's important to realize the impact the increased value of international skill has on social inequality. Acquiring "global personal capital" is costly.

Japanese schools don't teach English well. Parents who wish their children to master English, and preferably another language as well (in Japan's case probably Mandarin or Korean), must disburse large sums on tutoring and overseas language camps. Moreover, English is essential, but it's not sufficient. Thriving in different environments is what being a globalized person is really about.

Given that there are few foreigners and immigrants in Japan, it's nearly impossible to acquire this skill set within the confines of the country, its schools and universities. Thus, those who want their offspring to be competitive in the global labor market should be ready (and able) to pay for extensive tours abroad, probably including at least several years of foreign study, and later a few internships in other lands, starting at a young age.

Therefore, by the time a young Japanese is in his mid-20s, the bill for acquiring "global functionality"
will be enormous, vastly greater than the already high costs of cram schools (juku). This is not unique to Japan, but the expenses involved are greater than those faced in Western countries for several reasons.

First, non-English speaking Western countries have much better language education at home than Japan does.

Second, Westerners have far more occasions to interact with people from different continents in their own countries, schools, universities, and corporations, making it possible to partially internationalize at home (a ride in the London Tube or New York City subway is a cheap way to experience a round-the-world cruise, hear exotic languages, and stop for lunch in immigrant neighborhoods).

Third, due to the long history of Western imperialism, and the continued spread of Western influence through more peaceful means today, Westerners face less of a culture shock in most foreign settings than do Japanese. Thus to achieve the same level of "global functionality" as a Swede or a German, a Japanese will need to spend a lot more money and time.

The increased importance of this "international personal capital" creates another barrier to success for children whose parents are not from the wealthiest strata of society. There are no easy solutions to this problem. But there are ways in which government can mitigate this problem.

One is to provide more opportunities to globalize at home. Offering high-quality language education is obviously one important task. Recruiting more foreign faculty and students in universities, and also high schools, is another possibility.

Both the government and private sector will need to consider vast increases in funding for overseas education and internships and other opportunities to study and work outside of the country. These solutions are not cheap, but the cost of not doing anything is higher.

There's also the issue of equality of opportunity. If only the children of a small very affluent minority can access the "globalized world," Japan will remain unglobalized. Moreover, if young rich Japanese do embrace globalization, then the country runs the risk of growing hostility on the part of middle (and lower) class Japanese against a small privileged cosmopolitan elite that will be alienated from the rest of the citizenry.

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

Channelling influence through experts:
British and German oyatoi in Meiji Japan

In order to achieve the revision of the Unequal Treaties, which were forced upon the Bakufu by Western powers (1858-1867), the newly constituted Meiji government not only implemented an extensive reform programme but also borrowed thousands of helping hands from abroad to realize this goal. Research on these oyatoi gaikokujin (lit.: Hired
Foreigners) has hitherto mainly focused on their mediatory role within technical and scientific transfers and has evaluated the scope of their political agency as being rather marginal.

Starting from a global history approach and by focusing on expertise as a new resource in foreign policy, I challenge this narrative of the apolitical oyatoi. I examine how the British, German, and Japanese governments informally took advantage of the professional capital of the high-ranking experts in the service of the Meiji government in order to enlarge national spheres of influence in the context of informal imperialism.

Kristin Meissner is a PhD candidate in global history at the Freie Universitaet Berlin and currently conducting research in Tokyo as a DIJ doctoral fellowship recipient. Her PhD project on Expertise as a political resource. British and German oyatoi in the Meiji Era is funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Torsten Weber.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(weber@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

Lecturer：Dr. Karl Gustafsson (Research fellow, Swedish Institute of International Affairs) http://www4.lu.se/upload/Syd_och_sydostasienstudier/res
earch/CV_Karl_Gustafsson.pdf
Title: Has China’s Power Increased with its Rise?
Lecture paper is available for those who will attend the lecture.

（Synopsis）
The idea that China’s rise is producing a power shift in East Asia is widely discussed both in academia, media and political circles. The power shift is often understood as involving an increased power on behalf of China and a decrease in the power of Japan and/or the United States. But has China’s power increased with its rise? If we approach this question on the basis of the conventional realist understanding of power as material capabilities it should be obvious that China’
s power has indeed increased significantly both in terms of economic and military capabilities. That the possession of capabilities necessarily leads to a greater influence over other actors is often uncritically accepted. Yet, such an understanding can (and ought to) be problematized.
The important question to ask is arguably whether China’s boosted material capabilities has increased its capacity to produce effects.
While conventional wisdom in the study of international politics would suggest that an increase in the possession of material capabilities on the behalf of a state ought to strengthen its ability to produce effects this proposition needs to be tested empirically.

The presentation addresses the question of whether China’s ability to produce effects has increased with its rise through an analysis of discursive power, i.e.
the ability to produce effects through the use of discourse. China’s use of war history in Sino-Japanese relations is arguably the most conspicuous example of discursive power in the bilateral relationship and is therefore used as a case study. Has China’
s rise, as might be expected, increased its ability to use the past politically and thereby produce effects?
To answer this question, the presentation introduces a three-level theory of the use of discursive power to influence other actors. The three levels analysed are the domestic, bilateral and international levels.

Contrary to what might be assumed, the presentation demonstrates that the Chinese government’s ability to use discourses about the past for political purposes in Sino-Japanese relations was actually greater before its alleged rise. The more the Chinese government has attempted to use discourses about the past, the more it has enabled other actors to promote their agendas.
Domestically, the Chinese government was able to increase its legitimacy by emphasizing war history.
Yet, its heavy reliance on war memory for legitimacy has subsequently made it possible for activists to argue for a more hard-line approach against Japan that arguably limits the government’s foreign policy options. Bilaterally, the Chinese government used to be able to produce substantial effects in the form of Official Development Aid (ODA) and other concessions from Japan through reference to war history. However, it seems is no longer able to produce such effects.
Instead, the use of what in Japan is often described as ‘anti-Japanese’ history education has contributed to enabling discussions about Japanese foreign policy reform.
Internationally, the Japanese government has started to challenge recent Chinese attempts to use the past for public diplomacy purposes through similar appeals to the international community.

***********
We will have a “supper study gathering” between 17:00 and 18:30 with Dr. Gustafsson after the above lectures.
Graduate students and younger (at heart) scholars present their “state of their research” for 3-5 minutes in English and Dr. Gustafsson will respond/give comments. This is an informal meeting over supper.
Reservation is necessary for this gathering. (for reservation, send a note to Yone:
sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp)

For any inquiry, please send note to Yone SUGITA sugita@lang.osaka-u.ac.jp

■Presentation Overview
Dual-use research of concern (DURC) refers to work that could have both beneficial and dangerous consequences.
In this talk, Laurie Garrett will new revolutions in biology - such as gain of function research and synthetic biology - that exemplify the DURC problem, and are forcing policymakers across the globe to rethink both national and international surveillance and regulatory systems.

■Speaker's CV
Laurie Garrett is currently the senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Garrett is the only writer to have been awarded all three of the Big "Ps" of journalism: the Peabody, the Polk, and the Pulitzer. Garrett is also the best-selling author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance and Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. Her most recent book, I Heard the Sirens
Scream: How Americans Responded to the 9/11 and Anthrax Attacks, received the 2011 E-Literature Award for Best Science Writing. Garrett currently serves on the advisory board for the Noguchi Prize, and is a principal member of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN). She is an expert on global health with a focus on newly emerging and re-emerging diseases; public health and the effects on foreign policy and national security.

■Links
* Biology's Brave New World The Promise and
Perils of the Synbio Revolution (Foreign Affaires)
* Staying Safe in a Biology Revolution (Council
on Foreign Relations)
* Making the New Revolutions in Biology Safe
(Council on Foreign Relations)
* H5N1: A Case Study for Dual-Use Research A
CFR Working Paper (Council on Foreign Relations)

【On GRIPS Innovative Science and Technology Policy
Program: GIST】
GIST provides an integrated educational program consisting of a doctorate program, a master’s program, and a short-term training program to develop human resources competent to integrate knowledge of a broad range of specialty areas and to understand social issues precisely, as well as to design, plan, perform, evaluate, and modify STI policy using the scientific approach. At the same time, it promotes research and education in the field of “Science of STI Policy” in alliance with such representative agencies for research on STI policy in Japan as the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) and the Center for Research and Development Strategy (CRDS) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

【Global Health Innovation Policy Program: GHIP】
With an aspiration to becoming an international center of excellence in global health, Global Health Innovation Policy Program will: formulate and evaluate policies that contribute to innovations in global health; develop human resource in global health innovation; analyze processes of policy making, implementation and appraisal in order to facilitate public-private partnership conducive to effective use of Japanese medical and pharmaceutical technologies in improving health and nutritional conditions in developing countries; engage in researches that broaden international understanding on global health; build leadership capacities in Japan in global health innovation; and establish broad partnerships with global health institutes worldwide.

If you cannot open the form, please send email to GIST Secretariat, gist-ml grips.ac.jp. Registration email must include:
1) your name, 2) institution, 3) job title, and 4) contact information (email address or phone number).
The application will be closed as soon as the number of applicants reaches the capacity.

Speakers:
1. Kondo Kazuto (GSII Master’s student), "About the Relationship Between the Cinema and Publications During Prewar Era in Japan"
2. Pan Mengfei (GSII Master’s student), "Comic Pamphlets as Museum Marketing Strategy: A Case Study of Nya-eyes of The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography"
3. Brian M. White (University of Chicago, PhD student), "Scope of the Scopic: Media and the Senses in Early 20th Century Japan"
4. Susan Taylor (GSII, PhD student), "The (Networked) Geography of Knowledge and the Transformation of the Used Book Retail in Jimbocho, Tokyo: An Ethnographic Study"
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＝
SECOND PANEL: 11:00-13:00

Nationalism & Media 1: Nationalism in Film and TV
(映画・テレビにおけるナショナリズム)

Chair and Discussant: Professor Nicola Liscutin, Professor, Center for the Development of Global Leadership Education, University of Tokyo

Title: "The Asianization of Sociology? Trends in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Context of Asia"
Speaker: Professor Shigeto Sonoda, University of Tokyo
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THIRD PANEL: 15:00-17:00

* Please feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Lack of Aspirations or Deprived Opportunities?
Slow Progress for Women in Management and Corporate Barriers in Japan
--------------
Date: Friday, December 13, 2013
Time: Doors open 7:00 p.m / Talk starts 7:30 p.m.
Venue:
Temple University, Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Kumiko Nemoto, Associate professor of sociology at Western Kentucky University
Moderator: Robert Dujarric, Director, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies
Admission: Free (Open to general public)
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
*If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even if you do not RSVP.
*RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
--------------
Overview
In Japan, a few changes have occurred in the last two decades regarding women’s employment, including an increase in the number of highly educated women in the workforce as well as the government’s implementation of laws and policies promoting equal employment and women’s reconciliation of work with family. More than half of the large Japanese firms now employ positive action programs for the hiring and promotion of women.
The recent increase in foreign investment and the growth of liberalization reforms have contributed to the disruption of the traditional Japanese employment system. However, regardless of its high levels of economic development and the modernization of its institutions and customs, Japan continues to lag far behind other nations in women’s social and economic status and power.

Professor Nemoto discusses Japan’s recent changes as well as contradictory and pervasive barriers that have shaped women’s status in the corporate hierarchy, especially the low rate of women managers, by looking at governmental policy, legal changes, corporate responses, organizational customs, and women’s career aspirations in Japan. Her talk addresses the question of whether the low rate of women mangers and overall low status of educated women in Japan are likely to improve, allowing Japan to catch up with Western countries such as the United States, and what is lacking in the current governmental, corporate, and educational approaches to women’s employment in Japan.

Speaker
Kumiko Nemoto is an associate professor of sociology at Western Kentucky University. Dr. Nemoto was awarded an Abe Fellowship for a comparative study of gender equality. She earned a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin after finishing her BA and MA at Hitotsubashi University in Japan. She specializes in gender, work, family, and organizations in Japan and the United States. She has recently published "When Culture Resists Progress: Masculine Organizational Culture and Its Impacts on the Vertical Segregation of Women in Japanese Companies" in Work, Employment & Society (2012), “Long Work Hours and the Corporate Gender Divide in Japan” in Gender, Work & Organization (forthcoming), “Never-Married Employed Men’s Gender Beliefs and Ambivalence Toward Matrimony in Japan” in Journal of Family Issues (forthcoming), and “Postponed
Marriage: Exploring Women's Views of Matrimony and Work in Japan” in Gender & Society (2008). She is completing her book, Few Women to Look Up To:
Organizational Inertia, the Lack of High-Powered Women, and Sex Segregation in Japanese Companies. (for more information please visit
http://www.wku.edu/sociology/staff/kumiko_nemoto)

November 12, 2013

[SSJ: 8346] Sophia University ICC Lecture announcement (11/25)

From: Institute of Comparative Culture
Date: 2013/11/12

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2013
>From Private to Public: Portrait Photography and
Changing Social Mores in Late Meiji Japan
(http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/1311
25_Fraser.pdf)

18:30-20:00,
November 25, 2013
Room 10-301, Sophia University
This illustrated talk by Karen M. Fraser, Assistant Professor of Art History at Santa Clara University and current Japan Foundation Research Fellow, considers changing social conventions concerning the circulation of images of women in early twentieth-century Japan. It traces a significant shift from private to public display of photographic portraits, linking these changes to the ways in which portraiture was disseminated in print. Examining the visual display of photos in both general interest and women’s periodicals, it focuses in particular on the publication of portraits of young women in the Jiji shinpō newspaper. Appearing over a span of six months in 1907-08 as part of Japan’s first nationwide beauty contest, this unprecedented event was pivotal in this shift.
Lecture in English, No registration necessary ________________________________________
Upcoming lectures:
Nov 15 - Intercultural Theatre and Acting in a Global
Age: an alternative view (lecture by Phillip Zarrilli)
http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2013-2014/13111
5_Zarrilli.pdf

* Please note that this event will be at Azabu Hall of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Mizuho Onuma (House of Councillors) China's Future:
A Japanese Perspective
---------------
Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Mizuho Onuma, member of House of Councillors
Moderator:
Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
---------------

Overview

As Japan marks the 35th anniversary of the Friendship Treaty with China, China’s future, and its relations with Japan and the rest of the world, have become a concern in Japan.
The combination of a mutually profitable economic relationship with the rise of tensions between the two countries makes understanding China vitally important for Japan.

Speaker

Mizuho Onuma, a noted expert on Chinese affairs, elected to the House of Councillors as a LDP member from Yamagata Prefecture in 2013. She is a member of several committees and serves as Vice Chair of the LDP Youth Bureau and of the LDP Women’s Bureau.

Prior to her election, she was a senior researcher at the Tokyo Foundation. She served as a special adviser at the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong and was a journalist with NHK. She also served as a Senior
Policy Officer in the Cabinet Secretariat She holds
both an BA and an MA in Law from Keio University. (For more information visit https://mizuho-onuma.jp/)

[SSJ: 8344] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, November 27: The political discourse of regional disparity in Japan: 1993-2013

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2013/11/12

You are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group, held on

Wednesday, November 27, 18.30:

Ken Victor Leonard Hijino, Keio University:

The political discourse of regional disparity in Japan:
1993-2013

Socio-economic disparity between rural and urban regions in Japan has widened substantially in Japan in the last two decades. During these “Lost Decades”, differences in per capita income and poverty levels have grown, particularly between metropolitan Tokyo and other regions. Social services including child-care, medical-care, and education services provided by local governments have also diverged, resulting in growing disparities in levels of health, social capital, educational attainment, and personal happiness among different communities. (Tachibanaki and Urakawa 2012) During the same period, Japan’s local government system underwent major reforms unprecedented in its post-war history. These include administrative decentralization, local government fiscal reform, and municipal mergers.
Further reforms, such as the creation of a regional system (doshusei) and extensive fiscal decentralization, continue to be debated.
Rather than focus on changes in material interests or institutional structures to explain these reforms and concomitant growth in regional disparity, I turn to ideas. Borrowing from frameworks developed in Discursive Institutionalism (DI), I investigate ideas and discourse related to local government reforms and regional disparity in Japan. How did Japanese politicians and parties articulate, transmit, and legitimate ideas about urban-rural relations to the general public through “communicative discourse”?
My talk will describe the discourse surrounding administrative decentralization (1995-2000), local government fiscal reforms (2002-2006), public works spending under the Koizumi and second Abe administration, among other cases. Although research is still ongoing, my goal is to answer the following: what kind of discourse accompanied successful local government reforms? Has the intensity of “communicative discourse” increased as a result of Japan’s greater Westminsterization?

Ken Victor Leonard Hijino is associate professor at Keio University Graduate School of System Design and Management. He completed his PhD on decentralization in Japan at Cambridge University in 2009. He is currently researching decentralization, institutional reform, and conceptions of democracy in Japan.

Please be also reminded of our Joint DIJ Business and Economics/Social Science Study Group on November 18,
18:30:

The Properties and Effects of Collectivism and Individualism in Japan:
Two Perspectives from Cultural Psychology

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen, B.
Holthus, C. Hommerich.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen@dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

November 11, 2013

International Symposium (Dec.3) at Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies, Tokyo (WOJUSS)

Dear colleagues,

Waseda University Organization for Japan-US Studies will hold symposium, which is entitled " Japan and the Emergence of New US-China “Great Power”
Relations: Political Tensions and Expanding Labor Force Network".
Please visit our web site for more information and registration.
（English/Pre-registration）
http://www.kikou.waseda.ac.jp/wojuss/eng/event/event.ph
p?id=14
-------------------
"Japan and the Emergence of New US-China “Great Power” Relations:
Political Tensions and Expanding Labor Force Network"

We are happy to invite you to another session of our New York ICAS Korea Japan dinner program. We will meet on Sunday 24 November 2013 at 8pm in New York City. If you are interested in attending please email icas@tuj.temple.edu.

Kyle Cleveland: The Fukushima crisis and the politics of uncertainty
***********
Date: Sunday, November 24, 2013
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Venue:
New York City.
We will email details on the location to those who register.
Speaker:Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director of ICAS and Associate Professor of Sociology, Temple University Japan Campus
Admission: Free (Open to general public) RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu by November 23, 2013
***********

Dear friends,

Our friend Kyle Cleveland is doing path-breaking work on the politics of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and will speak on issues related to how the US government interfaced with the Japanese government and TEPCO in the most dire days of that crisis. Based on intensive interviews with some of the principle actors in the U.S. State Department and Prime Minister's office, Department of Defense and Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Kyle has nuanced information on how these organizations sorted the crisis, ranging from assessing the dispersion of radioactive fallout to setting evacuation zones and facilitating the departure of D.O.D. dependents from Japan. Since 2011, Kyle has interviewed nuclear experts, public officials, NGO and citizen radiation monitoring groups and activists on how the nuclear crisis was addressed, and is writing a book on how radiation assessment is negotiated to establish public safety standards in this most contentious of issues.

Kyle has taught at Temple University's Japan campus for over 20 years, and founded our Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies. At the university he has held a number of administrative roles, and teaches courses in political sociology, race and ethnicity and Japanese popular and youth culture.(http://www.tuj.ac.jp/newsite/main/undergrad/ab
out_tuj/faculty/kyle_cleveland.html)

We look forward to hearing from you. Should you wish to invite a friend or colleague please let us know, we will be happy to forward an invitation. If possible please RSVP a day before the session.

Could contemporary urban Japan provide a living example of the 18th Century Italian notion of public happiness?
The question is by no means far-fetched. Daily life in Japan is rich in examples of "public happiness," as I’ll show through a number of anecdotes and examples.
Yet Japan's performance is mediocre under the usual subjective and capabilities/eudaemonia-based metrics of well-being. This talk proposes that public happiness ought to be considered a third, collective type of “happiness” that complements the usual, more individually-based conceptions.
While public happiness doesn’t necessarily arise from government policies, it certainly can be impaired by them, particularly when such policies have quantitative targets such as productivity and growth. The failure of metrics to detect public happiness in Japan suggests that policies based on qualitative principles might be better for protecting and promoting it. An historical example of how a local government intervened in a traditional festival illustrates how qualitative considerations can enhance public happiness in practice. To conclude, I’ll propose a group of six qualitative "design principles" as candidate heuristics for policy-makers, among other actors.
Andrew J. Sutter is a professor in the College of Law and Politics, Rikkyo University. He also practices law as a gaikokuhou jimu bengoshi (California USA), with an office in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. Previously he practiced law in multinational corporations and law firms in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, and was a Vice President in Sony’s corporate venture capital department.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, December 05, 2013 at 6.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free, please register at forum[at]dijtokyo.org Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

We are happy to announce the call for papers for the Section 5b: Media Studies at the EAJS (European Association for Japanese Studies) Conference that will be held at University of Ljubljana in Slovenia in 2014, August 27-30.

We would like to cordially invite researchers working in the field of Japanese media and popular culture to submit any proposal dealing with various media in Japan, stretching from audiovisual to print media and from manga to anime.

We would particularly encourage submission of thematically co-ordinated panels (consisting of 3 or 4 presenters with or without discussant), but individual submissions will also be considered.

November 08, 2013

* This event is co-hosted by ICAS and Harvard Club of Japan (HCJ).
* The program starts at 7:15pm, 15 minutes earlier than the regular ICAS events.
* Tea and soft drinks provided. Feel free to bring your own bento.

Toshi Nakamura, Co-Founder and CEO, Kopernik
-------------------
Date: Monday, December 2, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:15pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:Toshihiro Nakamura, Co-Founder and CEO, Kopernik Moderator:Tomohiro Hamakawa
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
-------------------
Overview

Kopernik is a non-profit organization aiming to accelerate poverty reduction by engaging citizens in an online marketplace where technology producers post their innovative technology products, local organizations in developing countries create projects to use these technology products, and individuals can fund specific projects. Kopernik’s Co-founder and CEO Toshi Nakamura, an innovator in the social enterprise field, will explain this multi-stakeholder social business model and detail the successes and contributions made so far by Kopernik in reducing poverty. http://kopernik.info

Speaker

Toshi co-founded Kopernik in 2010 to connect simple, life-changing technology with people in the last mile.
The idea was driven by insights from his extensive career in international development, management consulting and academics. During his ten years with the United Nations (UN) in East Timor, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, the United States and Switzerland, Toshi dealt with governance reform, peace building processes and post-disaster reconstruction. Toshi initiated Sierra Leone's Open Government Initiative to increase the accountability of government leadership, and consequently made transparency a priority while building Kopernik. Prior to joining the UN, Toshi was a management consultant for McKinsey and Company in Tokyo. He holds an LLB from Kyoto University and MSc Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Toshi is Guest Associate Professor at Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University. Toshi was selected as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2012.

November 06, 2013

* Please note that this event will be at Azabu Hall of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Kazuhiko Togo:Towards a Japan-Russia Deal on the Northern Territories
----------------
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue:
Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:
Ambassador Kazuhiko Togo, Director of Institute for World Affairs at Kyoto Sangyo University
Moderator:
Tina Burrett, Assistant Professor of International Relations, TUJ
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:
icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
----------------
Overview

Almost 70 years after the end of hostilities, Japan and Russia have yet to sign a peace treaty due to their conflicting claims on the Northern Territories (Southern Kurils) islands that lie to the northeast of
Hokkaido. Recently, however, there appears to have
been progress towards an agreement between Tokyo and Moscow that would settle the issue and open the door to a formal full concluding a peace treaty between Japan and Russia.

Kazuhiko Togo, who was actively involved in many aspects of Japan's Russian policy and is a noted scholar of international relations in Asia will bring us up to date on the state of Russo-Japanese relations and discuss possible scenarios for a resolution of the Northern Territories question.

Speaker

Kazuhiko Togo runs the Institute for World Affairs at Kyoto Sangyo University from 2010. He joined the Foreign Ministry of Japan in 1968, worked extensively on Soviet/Russian affairs, as well as on Europe, America, international law and economics, and served as Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands and retired in 2002. From 1995 he began teaching in universities in Moscow and Tokyo, and after retirement in Leiden, Princeton, Tansui (Taiwan), Santa Barbara, Seoul, and Temple University Japan Campus. His recent publication includes in English Japan's Foreign Policy 1945-2009 and in Japanese (1) The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territories, (2) History and Foreign Policy: Yasukuni, Asia and Tokyo Tribunal and (3) What Japan lost after WWII: Scenery, Human Being and State.
________________________________

November 05, 2013

We would like to invite you to our Joint DIJ Social Science and Business & Economics Study Group at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo.

The Properties and Effects of Collectivism and Individualism in Japan:
Two Perspectives from Cultural Psychology

It will take place on

Monday, November 18th, 2013, 6.30 PM

at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.
(For a map refer tohttp://www.dijtokyo.org/access).

This study group is based on the following two separate talks which will be held consecutively:

---
Do the Changes of the Japanese Society Bring Happiness?
Examination of the Effect of Individualism from Cultural Psychology

Yuji Ogihara (Graduate School of Education, Kyoto
University)

Japanese society, which had traditionally been considered as collectivistic, has become more individualistic than before due to the influence of globalization. Focusing on the negative effects of individualism, this talk analyzes how such changes affect the Japanese psyche and behavior. First, we will show that Japanese society has become more individualistic (from the 1960s to the present) and that such changes were related to a decrease in well-being. Second, we will demonstrate that people with an individualistic orientation have fewer close friends, which too is associated with lower levels of well-being. Finally, we will suggest that Japanese people perceive the image of individualism itself as negative. In conclusion, we will discuss how cultural change affects the human psyche and behavior.

---

Collective properties of well-being and cooperative action in Japan:
Based on interpersonal relationships within community

Shintaro Fukushima (Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto
University)

In this presentation we will show that interpersonal relationships within a community, and not social relationships beyond a community, construct the collective properties of well-being and cooperative action. The analysis is based on a survey to households of all of the 441 communities in Kyoto prefecture (N = 32,685). To differentiate between interpersonal relationships within a community and social relationships beyond a community, "community trust" and "general trust" were adopted as indicators. The results are summarized as follows. (1) Community trust was formed as a group norm at a collective level while general trust was formed as a personal characteristic at the individual level. (2) Community trust, and not general trust, was related to well-being at the individual level. (3) While general trust was related to cooperation at the individual level, community trust was associated with cooperation at the collective level. Japan is considered to be a collectivistic country. Our results indicate that the Japanese type of collectivism is rather based on interpersonal relationships within a community than on social relationships beyond a community
---

Yuji Ogihara and Shintaro Fukushima are currently PhD candidates at the Kyoto University.

The presentation will be given in English.

Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register by November 15th atbusi.econ-studygroup[at]dijtokyo.org

November 01, 2013

* Please note that this event will be at AZABU HALL of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Naomi Fink: Abenomics and the wealth gap http://www.tuj.ac.jp/icas/event/abenomics-and-the-japan
ese-wealth-gap/
......................
Date: Friday, November 29, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue:Temple University Japan Campus, Azabu Hall 2F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:Naomi Fink, CEO and Founder, Europacifica Consulting Moderator:Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。
......................

Overview

When Shinzo Abe came to power for the second time, his tone was remarkably more reform-oriented. With a new Governor at the helm of the BOJ, many dared hope that
reform was in the making. Alongside this reform came
inevitable comparisons with Reagan and Thatcher, as well as the widening wealth gaps that ensued from these policies.

Radically reducing capital tax, while a typically robust method to increase aggregate welfare, might also contribute to aggravating disparities in welfare.
Still, despite plans to increase spending on infrastructure as well as pressure for greater monetary easing and possibly cutting corporate tax, there is nothing as yet to suggest Abe's reforms will be radical especially in longer-term structural regard. Those fearing the less desirable legacies of Reagan and Thatcher - widening wealth gaps - might have put the
cart before the horse. Japan's widening wealth gap
(to date) contrasts starkly in nature to that of the increasing income disparities of the US or UK in the 1980s, thanks to the absence of economic growth in Japan, as well as the greater transgenerational transfer of wealth.

We discuss the similarities both in ideological and practical aspects of Abenomics versus its 1980s Anglo-Saxon counterparts, including the likely error of failing to address the one of the true founts of Japan's structural impediments - weak Total Factor
Productivity (TFP). We point out why we should avoid
looking for solutions to Japan's productivity problem in the manufacturing or IT sectors, instead paying greater attention to the services and non-IT sectors.
Finally, we point out some policy clues and recommendations that actually might work in regard to structural reform.

Speaker

Naomi Fink is the CEO and founder of Europacifica Consulting, an economics and strategy-consulting firm.
Prior to founding Europacifica in August 2013, Naomi established herself as a high-profile financial market strategist for some of the world’s leading financial institution. With over 14 years of experience in financial markets, Naomi’s experience as a strategist extends from G10 and Asian foreign exchange markets to Japan macroeconomic and equity strategy. Embarking on her research career while at UBS in 2002, she established herself as an Asian foreign exchange strategist, thereafter starting up BNP Paribas’
foreign exchange derivatives research product from New York, in 2005. From there, Ms. Fink was recruited by the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (Japan’s largest
bank) to start up their first English-language Japan Strategy product. While at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, her daily publication “The Talk of Tokyo” became one of the most widely read daily publications on Japan in international financial markets. Subsequently, Fink started up Jefferies’ Japan equity strategy product in their nascent Japanese equities operation in 2011, providing clients with vital analysis not only on Japanese equity markets but also on various aspects of Japanese public policy - from monetary to energy policy
- in the wake of the Tohoku disaster.

Naomi has been a frequent public speaker at major events around the world. She appears on international television and radio providing expert commentary and is regularly quoted in numerous financial publications.
Naomi holds an M.A. Honours in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews and an MSc in Specialised Economic Analysis from Barcelona GSE, as well as a Financial Risk Manager certificate (administered by GARP). Among her pet projects is the analysis of heterogeneity in Japanese total factor productivity.

Fee: JPY3,000 per person, payable at the door Free for those who are from sponsoring companies (*) Free for students, please bring your student ID

Language: English

Please sign up by November 15th (Fri.) via e-mail to eijsjap[at]gmail.com for the attention of Ms. Futagawa (EIJS Tokyo office)

About the speaker: Dr. Florian Kohlbacher is a senior research fellow and head of the Business & Economics Section at the German Institute for Japanese Studies
(DIJ) Tokyo. His research focuses on business and consumer trends in Japan, especially in connection with social and demographic changes. He holds both a master's degree and a doctorate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna).
Florian is also an Adjunct Professor at Temple University, Japan Campus.

About the talk: Who are ikumen? Men who enjoy parenting and grow through parenting or those who wish to do so in the future. In the promotion of work and family life balance, and to the increase rate of men taking child-care leave and their involvement in parenting, the Japanese Ministry for Health, Labour and Welfare started the Ikumen project in 2010. In the presentation, we will hear about the recent trend of fatherly consumer behavior and about the potential of the rising opportunity of "ikumen business".

[SSJ: 8334] Japan History Group, ISS, University of Tokyo, 15 November 2013

From: Naofumi Nakamura
Date: 2013/11/01

The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Friday, 15th November, at 6:00 PM in Conference Room No.1(Dai-Ichi Kaigishitsu) of the Institute of Social Science main Building.

Abstract:
This presentation will look at the Rinji Kyōiku Kaigi
(1917-19) education reforms in the Tiashō period.
These were major reforms in the history of education in Japan, but their significance does not seem to have been thoroughly examined.
It is well known that education in Japan underwent two major reforms in its modern history. The first was the shift from a system in the feudal period to the system based on western education in the beginning of the Meiji period. The second was the reform that took place after World War II, based on recommendations by an American mission. This reform had the goal of changing a system long considered to be a continuation of the Meiji period system.
However, considering the various political, economic and social changes which occurred between the two well-known reforms, it is inconceivable that the system introduced at the beginning of the Meiji period could remain intact until the end of World War II. Indeed, the Rinji Kyōiku Kaigi served to expand the Meiji education system in response to these changes. After some of the proposals and suggestions in the report of this reform were implemented, a considerable number of changes took place in the 1920s and 1930s in the areas of higher education and women’s education in particular.
By using social indicators as objective sources of evidence, this presentation will evaluate some of the reports issued by the Rinji Kyōiku Kaigi and investigate whether or not they contributed to improvement of education and to the ensuing social change in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods.

--
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo
naofumin[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

In common with other industrial and post-industrial societies, Japan is confronted by issues arising from rapidly changing medical technologies, an aging society and environmental pollution, all of which impact the body and our understandings of the 'natural' and the artificial. The body has come under pressure from varying directions: not only as an object/subject of consumption, but also as an agent of production in the field of work, as well as in the domains of medicine and technology, where the boundaries between natural and artificial have become increasingly blurred. Other relevant issues include the negotiation of the end of life and the disposal of the body after death; the treatment and transformation of the body in the Japanese fictional media, including anime, manga, literature and film; and the body in performance and the performing arts

Authors are invited to submit papers relating to this overall theme, addressing areas such as, but not limited to, the following:
- The body in the mass media, including public display of the body on TV and other media, as well as the cyborg and the robotic body in film, manga and anime
- Disembodiment: virtual reality, avatars and identity in online interactions
- Dance, sports and physical movement in Japan
- Medical technologies and the body, including new reproductive technologies and the treatment of the body at the end of life
- Death and the body, including changing funeral practices
- Japanese theories of the body: shintairon and shintai no shakaigaku
- The body and the self: working on the body as a means of self-cultivation and/or resistance, including bodily modification, wrapping, design and aesthetics
- Work and the body: the disciplining of the productive body in the workplace

Contributions should not exceed 8000 words, including references and appendices. For details see our style sheet at www.contemporary-japan.org/.

For Inquiries and submission contact:
u.heinze@sainsbury-institute.org

Submission deadline: 31 March 2014; Publication: Spring
2015

About Contemporary Japan
Contemporary Japan publishes original research from all disciplines as they relate to contemporary Japan or its recent historical development. Manuscripts which cross disciplinary boundaries and raise larger issues of interest are also welcome, as are approaches rooted in traditional disciplines to under-researched topics. All submissions are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by established scholars in the field.

The following points set CJ apart from other peer-reviewed journals on Japan:
(1) CJ is open to all kinds of methods from all disciplines.
(2) CJ also welcomes preliminary empirical results as well as innovative theoretical approaches, given that their contribution to the field of research as well as their place in the relevant literature is thoroughly presented.
(3) CJ maintains a fast review process and promises a timely publication after acceptance.
(4) Submissions are judged purely for content. CJ offers extensive language support for accepted articles, which may be translated from German or Japanese into English free of charge, given that (a) the material is original research which has not been published in either language and that (b) the material demonstrates a familiarity with the international literature in the field.
(5) All articles are available free of charge online.

[SSJ: 8332] JAPAN COPES WITH CALAMITTY: PUBLISHED TODAY

From: Tom Gill
Date: 2013/10/31

JAPAN COPES WITH CALAMITY

Dear friends,

With apologies for cross-posting: On behalf of my fellow co-editors, Brigitte Steger and David H. Slater, and all our contributors, I am delighted to announce the publication today of our book, Japan Copes with
Calamity: Ethnographies of the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disasters of March 2011. It brings together nine varied ethnographic studies from the disaster region with a pair of introductory chapters framing the studies in terms of Japanese society and anthropological writing on disasters.
Full details of the book may be viewed at the website of the publisher, Peter Lang:
http://www.peterlang.com?430922. An electronic edition will shortly be available. The contents list is at the bottom of this notice.
A formal launch party will be held by the Japan Foundation in London, on Wednesday, November 20 at 6.30pm. Admission is free but booking is essential:
http://www.jpf.org.uk/whatson.php#596
There will also be a formal launch party a little later in Tokyo; details to be announced. Meanwhile I will have a small number of copies available at a large discount at the AJJ conference (Anthropology of Japan, in Japan) to be held on November 9-10 at International Christian University in Tokyo.
http://www.ajj-online.net/www.ajj-online.net/Blog/Entri
es/2013/10/16_AJJ_2013_Annual_Meeting_Program.html

A Japanese edition of the book, Higashi-Nihon Dai-Shinsai no Jinruigaku: Tsunami, genpatsu jiko to hisaishatachi no 'sono go' (Anthropology of the Great Eastern Japan Disaster: The tsunami, the nuclear accident and what happened next to the victims) has already been published, by Jinbun Sho'in of Kyoto.
http://www.jimbunshoin.co.jp/book/b108281.html
It has been more than two-and-a-half years since 3.11, but as anyone following the news will know, the Great Tohoku Disasters are very far from over. We hope these ethnographic reports from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima will contribute to improving understanding of this very complex event.

Tom Gill
Meiji Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan

Japan Copes with Calamity: Contents

* Tom Gill/Brigitte Steger/David H. Slater: 'The 3.11 Disasters'
* David H. Slater: 'Urgent Ethnography'
* Brigitte Steger: 'Solidarity and Distinction through Practices of Cleanliness in Tsunami Evacuation Shelters in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture'
* Nathan J. Peterson: 'Adapting Religious Practice in Response to Disaster in Iwate Prefecture'
* Johannes Wilhelm and Alyne Delaney: 'No Homes, No Boats, No Rafts: Miyagi Coastal People in the Aftermath of Disaster'
* David McNeill: 'Them versus Us: Japanese and International Reporting of the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis'
* Ikeda Yoko: 'The Construction of Risk and the Resilience of Fukushima in the Aftermath of the Nuclear Power Plant Accident'
* Morioka Rika: 'Mother Courage: Women as Activists between a Passive Populace and a Paralyzed Government'
* Tom Gill: 'This Spoiled Soil: Place, People and Community in an Irradiated Village in Fukushima Prefecture'
* Tuukka Toivonen: 'Youth for 3.11 and the Challenge of Dispatching Young Urban Volunteers to North-eastern Japan'
* David H. Slater: 'Moralities of Volunteer Aid: The Permutations of Gifts and their Reciprocals.'
* Brigitte Steger: Epilogue: 'Still Missing.'

October 30, 2013

I write to let you know that Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations will offer postdoctoral fellowships for social scientists during the next
2014-15 academic year. We seek applications from a broad range of fields, including anthropology, economics, education, history, law, political science, public health, public policy, and sociology. Projects that focus on Japan or Japan’s international role from a comparative, historical, or global perspective are welcome. The postdoctoral fellow teaches one course in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at Harvard. A knowledge of the Japanese language is not required. The annual stipend is $50,000, disbursed over 10 months.
The application deadline is January 15, 2014; and recipients must hold a doctoral degree by August 1, 2014.

The application form and guidelines are available on our website (here http://programs.wcfia.harvard.edu/us-japan/apply-become
-postdoctoral-fellow ). I would be grateful for your help in disseminating this information to those whom you think would qualify for our postdoctoral fellowships. Please do not hesitate to contact me
(sfujihira@wcfia.harvard.edu) with any questions you may have.

Thank you very much for your continued support of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard.

October 25, 2013

[SSJ: 8330] PhD position on Japan in Stockholm

From: Marie Soderberg
Date: 2013/10/25

I would like to announce that

The European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) at Stockholm School of Economics is now recruiting a Ph.D.
candidate for the Doctoral Program in Asian Economy and Business. This is a program in close cooperation with the business community.

The Ph.D. candidates will be accepted into the regular SSE Ph.D. Program in Business Administration, Economics or Finance. In addition to fulfilling the regular SSE entrance criteria (please see under each specialization on home page http://www.hhs.se/Education/PhD/Pages/AEB.aspx), the candidate should also be fluent in Japanese.

The candidate will be part of an "Asian group"
clustered together in close vicinity to EIJS and China Economic Research Centre (CERC) and in this way constitute part of the "Asian academic hub" at the School. Besides the regular SSE PhD curriculum, there will be a number of Asia-related seminars and other activities in which the candidates are expected to take part. The Program is for four years and given in English.

What is special about this program is that we will be working very closely with the business community; various companies are "sponsors" of the Ph.D.
candidates. We are at this moment looking for a candidates working on Japan.

The deadline for applications is Feb 1, 2014. But we are trying to get in contact with potential candidates already now and might offer a position as research assistant in Stockholm during the spring 2014 for a strong candidate.
For more information please contact the director Marie Soderberg (Marie.Soderberg[at]hhs.se)

[SSJ: 8329] DIJ talk Murphy on Prisoners of War available online

From: DIJ History & Humanities Study Group
Date: 2013/10/25

Dear list members,

because of the great interest in our DIJ Study Group on Prisoners of War from Tsingtao during the First World War, we decided to record the talk by Mahon Murphy (LSE, London) last night and are happy to announce that it is now available as an mp3 file on our webpage:

October 23, 2013

[SSJ: 8328] 【Notice】 Invitation to 85th GRIPS Forum on 11th November

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) International Liaison Office

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on November 11.

*Please register at gripsforum[at]grips.ac.jp by November
8 (Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

In foreign affairs, Mr. Shinzo Abe who became Prime Minister of Japan last Dec. has been developing his positive approach called “diplomacy of bird’s eye view of globe”. He has also been promoting the diplomacy of proactive contribution to peace by expanding Japan’s diplomatic horzto the universal values such as freedom, human rights, democracy and rule of law, and by firmly maintaining its position as a sea power. In this lecture, due consideration will be given to the future foreign policy of Prime Minister Abe who made courageous decisions one after another on Futenma base, TPP and the consumption tax raise.

Speakers’ Profile:
Special Advisor to the Cabinet
Former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Professor, Institution of Japan-US Studies, Organization for Japan-US Studies, Waseda University Guest Professor (Part-time), Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University Part-time Lecturer, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo Visiting Professor, Art Innovation Center, Tokyo University of the Arts
Education: MA from the University of Tokyo Graduate School for Law and Politics in March 1969

Shotaro Yachi was born in Kanazawa City on January 6,
1944 and raised in Toyama. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April 1969, and retired from the Ministry in January 2008. In Japan he worked in the Ministry’s Asian Affairs Bureau, North American Affairs Bureau, Treaties Bureau (four times), as Director of the Personnel Division, Director-General of the Treaties Bureau, Director-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary, and Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. Overseas he served twice at the Embassy of Japan in the USA, and at the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, at the mission of Japan to the EC, and as Consul General in Los Angeles.
Yachi undertook research at The Fletcher School from
1970 to 1972 and at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University as a fellow, from 1987 to 1988. He taught as a part-time lecturer at Waseda University’s International Division (1986), at Sophia University’s Faculty of Law (1993, 1994), at Seinan-gakuin University’s Department of Law (1993), at Keio University’s Faculty of Law (1996), and at Chuo University’s Faculty of Law (2001-2003).

His publications include, “Essays: Japan's diplomacy and comprehensive security,” “Japan’s Diplomatic Strategy and Aspiration,” “Diversifying International Threat and Japan, in Security in the age of New-type War,” supervised by Akihiko Tanaka.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

October 22, 2013

[SSJ: 8325] Robert Dujarric on the history issue and legacy of the Axis

From: ICAS
Date: 2013/10/22

Dear All: FYI, Robert Dujarric's latest article on the politics of history.

Summary: Fairly or unfairly (mostly unfairly), Japan will always be compared with Germany on the history issue due to the Axis alliance between Berlin and Tokyo. This will not go away. Posthumous divorces are not recognized in the civil code.
http://thediplomat.com/the-editor/2013/10/14/japans-his
tory-problem/

********************************************

Japan's History Problem
October 14, 2013 By Robert Dujarric
The Diplomat

http://thediplomat.com/the-editor/2013/10/14/japans-his
tory-problem/

(c) The Diplomat

The "history issue" again raised its ugly head for Japan when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed to get even a very brief session with South Korean President Park Geun-hye while they were both in Southeast Asia for summit meetings last week.

It is interesting to note how often discussions of "history" end with the question: "Why can't Japan be like Germany?" A recent article in Korea's Dong-A Ilbo "Germany never forgets its past wrongdoings" is typical. Few stories in the foreign press about Yasukuni, the Nanjing Massacre, or the sex slaves fail to denigrate Japan for not showing as much remorse as Germany has.

By international standards, Japan's handling of its history is actually above average. Unlike Turkey with the Armenian Genocide, the Japanese government is not in a state of denial. Nor does Japan, as the Chinese Communist Party does, put a mass murderer (Mao Zedong) on its banknotes. General Tojo's soul shares Yasukuni with millions of soldiers and sailors in relative obscurity, but Lenin, founding father of totalitarianism, lies mummified in a mausoleum in the heart of Moscow. Western democracies have dealt with what would today be labeled crimes against humanity, such as the slaughter of native peoples in the New World and in their colonies, slavery, and other deeds, in varying ways, including ignorance, indifference and negation. A few kilometers from Washington D.C., lies a highway named after Jefferson Davis, who presided over the Confederate States of America during their struggle to uphold slavery.

In the end, though, Japan is always judged based on how West Germany (and later a reunited Germany) has faced its Nazi past since the chancellorship of Willy Brandt (1969-1974). This contrast makes Japan look very much like an underperformer. There is no photograph of a Japanese prime minister bowing in Nanjing to match the famous shot of Brandt kneeling in Warsaw. Tokyo lacks a counterpart to the giant Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
Japanese governments have taken a narrow legalistic approach to requests for compensation to the sex slaves and forced laborers of Imperial Japan, whereas Germany has generally been more forthcoming in paying for claims. German leaders do not engage in self-destructive debates about the definition of invasion. Angela Merkel would not offer tokens of respect to shrines honoring men hanged following the Nuremberg Trial. Berlin does not order its diplomats to protest against the erection of memorials to victims of the Nazis.

To some Japanese, it seems unfair to benchmark their country to Germany. For various reasons, Germany is an outlier when it comes to its relationship with its darkest era. Moreover, one of the roots of Japan's perceptions of history is the legacy of U.S. policy.
The United States did not "purge" Japan with the same intensity as it denazified Germany. Albert Speer, who ran Germany's armaments industry (and its slaves), was sentenced to twenty years behind bars. His counterpart in Japan, Nobusuke Kishi, was quickly released by U.S.
authorities, and then rose to be prime minister (when the CIA funded the ruling Liberal Democratic Party).
The Showa Emperor (Hirohito) not only escaped indictment, but was even spared testifying at the Tokyo Trials. In his later years, U.S. President Richard Nixon welcomed the Emperor on Japan's first imperial visit to America. Washington granted amnesty to the murderous physicians of Unit 731. These actions were perfectly logical at the time, but they obviously had consequences for Japanese interpretations of the Showa War. If president Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress had welcomed a former member of Hitler's cabinet to Washington as they did Prime Minister Kishi, it would have sent to Germans the message that the Nazi era was not that bad after all.

Japan cannot escape this juxtaposition with Germany.
Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were Axis allies. Both were defeated by the same coalition in World War II.
Due to this doomed marriage, Hitler's Germany is unavoidably the nation that comes up when discussing Showa Japan.

This link will not go away. Posthumous divorces are not recognized in the civil code. The Japanese Cabinet's actions in dealing with the 1931-45 conflict will always be graded on a "German scale." Cases of partial "historical amnesia," though they are the norm worldwide, are thus perceived as particularly odious.
They also undermine Japan's interests by needlessly increasing anti-Japanese sentiment.

Robert Dujarric is Director, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan Campus in Tokyo
(robertdujarric[at]gmail.com)

********************************************
ICAS publications do not reflect any TUJ opinions but solely those of the speakers and participants.

[SSJ: 8324] NCC Nominations

From: Bestor, Victoria Lyon
Date: 2013/10/22

Seeking Nominations for NCC Council and Committee
Members:

During 2014 the North American Coordinating Council onJapanese Library Resources (the NCC) will fill positions on the elected NCCCouncil and on the Digital Resources Committee and the Multi-Volume Sets Grants Committee. NCC Council Members are elected for three-year terms and committee members serve rotating terms of three years generally with one or two new members joining each year. Committees are appointed by the NCC Chair with the approval of the NCC Executive Committee. Terms begin either January 1 or July 1 and
run for three years from that date.

As is required by its by-laws, the NCC seeks to include among Council and Committee members faculty and librarians from diverse regions of the country, from institutions of varying size, and from Japanese and East Asian studies programs with a range of strengths and foci. Selection of candidates will, therefore, take into consideration current representation on those committees in filling these positions. A list of the current Council Members and is contained in the About NCC section of the website at http://guides.nccjapan.org/homepage. A brief description of positions follows:

NCC Elected Librarian Council Member: Elected librarian memberscome from a range of institutions and regions, and from institutions with collections of all sizes both those broadly covering Japan and East Asia and those that may be more specialized. All elected NCC members are expected to serve on a range of committees or working groups and will likely be asked to become chair or co-chair of at least onesuch group. Past experience as a member of an NCC committee or working group or a CEAL committee, as well as other service to the field is desirable.

NCC Elected Faculty Council Member: Elected faculty members arechosen to represent not only a range of institutions and regions but also to represent a diversity of disciplines, time periods and research methodologies. One of the faculty members serves also as the co-chair of the Multi-Volume Sets Grant Committee. An active engagement with libraries and library-related issues and participation in disciplinary and field wide service is also of important consideration.

NCC Digital Resources Committee (DRC)
http://guides.nccjapan.org/digitalresourcesdiretory
The digital resources committee serves as an intermediary between academic users and materials vendors and provides two-way education and advocacy for the needs of academic users abroad. The DRC's at-large committee of librarians and faculty is actively involved in education about licensing of digital resources for Japanese studies, and coordinate such efforts for the NCC on a national and international basis, working especially closely with colleagues in Japan. The DRC especially seeks members who have experience organizing workshops and webinars, and those with experience negotiating and managing subscriptions to major Japanese databases.

NCC Multi-Volume Sets Committee (MVS)
http://guides.nccjapan.org/mvs?hs=a. MVS is the NCC's oldest ongoing program making grants for expensive materials not otherwise circulating from North American collections. Each year MVS makes grants that cover up to 80% of the purchase cost for small institutions and 50% to 75% for larger institutions on sets of Japanese language materials in demand by users but beyond the normal budget of most institutions. Committee activities are especially busy in the fall and winter when MVS competition takes place.

To propose a candidate for one of these positions, please send an email by November 15, 2013 to NCC Chair Kuniko Yamada McVey kmvvey[at]fas.harvard.edu with a cc:
to NCC Executive Director Victoria Bestor at vbestor[at]fas.harvard.edu. Self-nominations are invited.
For further information about these positions and other NCC activities please visit the website.
Victoria Lyon Bestor
Executive Director
North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources
149 Upland Road
Cambridge, MA 02140
Tel: 617-833-0755
Fax: 617-812-5854
Website: http://www.nccjapan.org/
Email: vbestor[at]fas.harvard.edu

October 21, 2013

VSJF (German Association for Social Science Research on
Japan) Annual Conference 2013
at the Japanese German Center Berlin, 22-24 November
2013

Inequality in Post-Growth Japan: Social Transformation during Economic and Demographic Stagnation

Social inequality has been on the research agenda pertaining to many advanced economies such as Germany and the USA for some time. The recent worldwide financial and economic crisis has given it increased significance. In Japan, too, social inequality has become a key topic for scholars and social policy makers since the turn of the century. For decades, Japan considered itself a homogeneous middle-class society of economic equity and equal opportunity.
Recently however, Japan is struggling to come to terms with structural changes and a new self-image as a gap society (kakusa shakai) marked by increasing differentiation and new forms of social inequality.
Economic stagnation and population aging are compounding extant problems in the labor market as well as in the already overstretched social security system.

After two decades of structural changes, we believe that it is time to take stock. Bringing together leading experts from various disciplines, including sociology, economics, social geography and Japanese studies, the conference will focus on five dimensions of social inequality which we believe to be especially relevant in the Japanese context: education, work, social welfare, the urban-rural divide, and minorities.
Within each dimension presenters will concentrate on the three levels of structure, discourse, and agency.
In this way, we hope to establish a coherent view of the current state of Japan as gap society and to identify the dynamics between structural changes, public and academic discourses as well as resulting behavior patterns and forms of political action.

Registration is open until Nov. 8:
http://www.jdzb.de/images/stories/documents/p1498-regis
tration.pdf

**************************

Program

November 22, 2013 (Friday)

15:00-15:30 Welcome, opening remarks and introduction to the conference

15:30-16:15 Keynote speech

- Yoshimichi Sato (Tohoku University, Sendai):
Institutions and Agency in the Creation of Social Inequality

16:15-16:45 Coffee break

16:45-18:15 Panel 1 – Urban vs. Rural
- Ralph Lützeler (University of Bonn): The Urban-Rural Divide in Japan – A Matter of Social Inequality?
- Volker Elis (University of Tübingen): Public and Political Discourses on Spatial Inequality in Japan
- Peter Matanle (University of Sheffield):
Understanding the Dynamics of Regional Growth and Shrinkage in 21st Century Japan

18:30-20:00 Dinner

November 23, 2013 (Saturday)

9:00-10:30 Panel 2 – Welfare State
- Sawako Shirahase (University of Tokyo): Social Inequality in Family with Children - Focusing on Income Inequality in Contemporary Japan
- Harald Conrad (University of Sheffield): Social Policy Responses to the "Gap Society" - The Structural Limitations of the Japanese Welfare State and Related Official Discourses since the 1990s
- Margarita Estévez-Abe (Collegio Carlo Alberto,
Torino): Political Obstacles for Welfare Reform in Japan

The Japan Center for International Exchange, the Keio Institute of East Asian Studies, and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia jointly present a public symposium to mark the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation.

This symposium is founded upon the "ASEAN-Japan Strategic Partnership Dialogue" project, which was commissioned by the government of Indonesia and funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, and its resulting policy recommendations entitled "Beyond 2015:
ASEAN-Japan Strategic Partnership for Democracy, Peace, and Prosperity in Southeast Asia."

This past decade, the needs and priorities of Japan and ASEAN have undergone important changes. This symposium will examine what role Japan can play in order to contribute to the continuous growth of the ASEAN community and to promote a genuine partnership in the fields of economy, politics, security, society and culture.

Former ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan will deliver the keynote address.

We warmly extend this invitation to all those interested in, among others, the future of ASEAN and Japan's relations, economic and defense cooperation, human security and non-traditional security issues, peacekeeping and conflict prevention, the post-MDGs era, as well as civil society issues.

Co-organized by: The Keio Institute of East Asian Studies, Japan Center for International Exchange, and Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia.
Supported by: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Sponsored by: Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund Registration (limit of 200 attendees, please register by 6
November):
Those wishing to attend may register at the following
site:
http://www.jcie.or.jp/cgi/form/asean-japan/

October 20, 2013

You're invited to our annual Japan Seminar, to be held at NTNU in Trondheim on 27 November.

This year’s seminar compares science and technology policy in Japan and Norway and their respective models of innovation. It marks the 10th anniversary of the Norway-Japan Science and Technology Agreement. Key Norwegian and Japanese participants in this research cooperation will talk about their experiences of working together, both in planning and executing research. Thereafter, an international panel of experts will examine whether there are distinctive models of innovation in Japan and Norway, and look at what characterizes entrepreneurs in these two countries. The seminar will highlight a variety of ways in which the business community, government institutions and universities, in Japan and Norway, cooperate in advancing cutting edge research in science and technology.

There is no cost to attend, and a free lunch and coffee will be provided. However, to attend you must register online by Friday 22 November. You can find the complete seminar program and the online registration link here:

Entrepreneurship is regarded as an important factor for innovation and economic growth. However, Japan has been characterized by the lowest level of entrepreneurship activity among the OECD countries for more than 20 years. Since the 1990s, the government tried to stimulate business start-ups, especially in high-tech industries, without obvious success. There are only few empirical studies on entrepreneurship in Japan.
However, such studies would be necessary to support and evaluate public policy to promote entrepreneurship.
This lecture presents the results of a 4-year panel survey of Japanese entrepreneurs in manufacturing and software sectors, who started their businesses in 2007 and 2008. Based on this survey data, we show who research-oriented founders are and how they perform.
Moreover, we also investigate the determinants of R&D investment, innovation outcomes, and employment growth of these start-ups.

Hiroyuki Okamuro is Professor at the Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University and a visiting research fellow at the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP). He received his M.A.
from Hitotsubashi University and his Ph.D. in Economics (Dr. rer. pol.) from the University of Bonn. His major research interests are entrepreneurship and innovation.
He has published numerous papers in international journals on these topics. Currently he is vice-president of the Japan Academy of Small Business Studies (JASBS) and associate editor of the Journal of Small Business Management.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Friday, November 08, 2013 at 6.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free, please register at forum[at]dijtokyo.org Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

October 17, 2013

[SSJ: 8319] International conference on "Travelling Food and Beverages: In and Out of Japan," Jerusalem, November 3-5, 2013

From: Nissim Otmazgin
Date: 2013/10/17

International conference on “Travelling Food and
Beverages: In and Out of Japan”

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, November 3-5, 2013

Organizer: Dr. Helena Grinshpun

The background to this conference is the intense globalization of Japanese cuisine during the past three decades that has continued despite the deteriorating national economy. The conference will explore the variety of issues centered on how food and beverages have “traveled”: that is, circulated, flowed, interacted, transformed within Japan and globally. Such a perspective may be examined through the following kinds of themes: regulation of food movements, travelling culinary expertise, circulating recipes, playful fusions in the kitchen, traffic in the implements of cooking and eating, food and media, food as soft power, the transfer of knowledge about nutrition, international competitions and interchanges, cuisine and its relation to social mobility or inequality, flows and networks characterizing infrastructure for food and beverages, technologies allowing flows of products, biographies of victuals and drinks (movement along time), or portable foods (lunchboxes for example).

PROGRAM:

DAY 1, November 3
Beit Maiersdorf Faculty Club
17:00 Keynote Lecture:
Ben-Ami Shillony, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem "Divine Meals at Ise Shrine"

DAY 2, November 4
The Truman Institute, Abba Eban Hall
09:00-09:30 Gathering and registration
9:30-10:00 Opening Session and Greetings Menachem Blondheim, Academic Director of the Truman Research Institute Nissim Otmazgin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Chair of the Israeli Association for Japanese Studies Helena Grinshpun, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Truman Research Institute

10:00-12:30 Panel 1. Food Politics in Historical Perspective
Chair: Ehud Harari, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sheldon Garon, Princeton University, "The Home Front and Food Insecurity in Wartime Japan: a Transnational Perspective"
Christopher Pokarier, Waseda University, “Japanese ‘Food Design’: From Place to Portable Concept?”
Rotem Kowner, University of Haifa, "The Best Eugenic Method? The Adoption of Western Diet for Racial Improvement in Modern Japan"

14:00-16:30 Panel 2. Japanese Cuisine as a Soft Power:
Between Globalism and Authenticity
Chair: Orna Naftali, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem James Farrer, Sophia University, "Culinary Soft Power and Culinary Indigenization: the Case of the Global Boom in Japanese Cuisine"
Nancy Stalker, University of Texas at Austin, "
Crafting Japanese Epicureanism: Rosanjin and Gurume Nationalism"
Jonatan Leer, University of Copenhagen, "Cooking with Karate Kid: Constructions of the “Authentic” Japanese Cuisine and the Japanese “Other” in Western Imaginary through the Example of Anthony Bourdains A cooks tour and No reservations"
David Conklin, Portland University, "Soba: The Next Sushi?"

DAY 3, November 5
Rabin Building
8:30-11:00 Panel 3. Food and Transnational Flows
Chair: Nissim Otmazgin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kelly Hansen, San Diego State University, "When French Fries Go Viral: Mobile Media and the Transformation of Public Space"
Cornelia Reiher, University Halle-Wittenberg, "Food Safety and the Alliance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Contemporary Japan"
Katrin Gengenbach, Freie Universität Berlin, "Transnational Flows of Vegan Cuisine and Permaculture in Japan"
Alisa Shteinberg, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "Can You Eat This Food? A Study of Cooking Habits of Foreigners in Japan"

11:30-13:30 Panel 4. Traveling Beverages
Chair: Ben Ami Shillony, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Dick Stegewerns, University of Oslo; "Sake Around the World … and Back: The Three Waves (and Ways) of Sake Appreciation in the West"
Wilburn Hansen, San Diego State University; "Craft Beer in Japan"
Helena Grinshpun, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "'The Boss of Them All': Exploring the Cultural Appropriation of Coffee in Japan"

15:00-16:30 Panel 5. Practitioners' Presentations:
Making Japanese Food and Beverages Local
Chair: Ira Lyan, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Galia Dor, Lecturer and guide to Japan, author of the first Hebrew book on Japan's food culture, a long-term apprentice of Kaiseki cuisine and instructor of Japanese cooking workshops in Israel Simob Hofstra, Sake sommelier and director of Sake Europe, a company introducing sake to European audience

October 16, 2013

The Graduate School of East Asian Studies (GEAS), funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments, will admit up to 15 doctoral candidates to its program, beginning October 1st, 2014.

Twelve candidates will receive a grant by the Graduate School, up to three other PhD candidates per year can be accepted with funding from other Freie Universität Berlin programs, from partner institutions in East Asia or from scholarships provided by German or international organizations.

Doctoral dissertations at GEAS are expected to analyze the institutional environment of social, political, cultural and economic actors in the East Asian region of China, Japan and/or Korea. All dissertation research at GEAS will be conducted in the context of the three interconnected research lenses of its academic profile: the origin and change of institutions in East Asia, the effects institutions have on processes related to globalization and modernization in East Asia on the side of governments, bureaucracies or business and individual life-styles or related preferences, and, finally, the interdependencies of institutions in East Asia within and beyond its regional boundaries.

Successful applicants will have an above average master’s degree in either area studies (Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies) or a discipline represented at the Graduate School (Politics, Sociology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Business, Economics, Law, History, Cultural Studies, Humanities, Theatre Studies, Environmental Policy) with a focus on East Asia. The language of communication is English. Successful candidates will also have language skills in an East Asian Language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) at a level of B2 or higher.
The Guidelines for Applications can be found at the online application portal at: https://apply.drs.fu-berlin.de/eas/

We offer Ph.D. stipends of approximately € 1400 €/month. Fellowships will initially be granted for one year, and contingent upon a positive evaluation after each year of study, fellowships will be extended for another year. The fellowship may be granted for a maximum of three years.

Applications should include a CV, a letter of academic interest, a brief outline of the prospective dissertation topic (maximum 6 pages), a schedule for the dissertation, and copies of certificates of your relevant degrees and language skills. Two letters of recommendation shall be sent directly by your referees to GEAS via the online application system. For applications, please register online.

The next application deadline will be January 15, 2014. For questions on admission and the online portal, please also consult the Admission FAQ. The screening takes place in January and February 2014. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed (via Skype) in March 2014. Candidates accepted for admission into GEAS will receive notice by early to mid-May 2014.

For additional information, please check our website at http://www.geas.fu-berlin.de and feel free to contact us at application[at]geas.fu-berlin.de. No legal entitlement shall be constituted by applying to the program. Reasons for rejections will not be disclosed.

[SSJ: 8317] Nov. 5 symposium (Tokyo) on public diplomacy

From: Peter Durfee
Date: 2013/10/16

On Tuesday, November 5, my employer (the publisher of
Nippon.com) is cohosting a symposium in central Tokyo on the theme of public diplomacy.
Kent Calder will give the keynote, and three discussion sessions will follow.

Details are available in this PDF:

http://www.nippon.com/en/files/sympo2013_en.pdf

A map to the Nippon Press Center, where this will be held, is part of this post on the symposium:

http://www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00002/

There's no fee to attend this event, but we are asking people to register in advance. I hope it's of interest to some of you.

[SSJ: 8316] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, October 30: Ikumen Generation - Support Networks for Japanese Fathers

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2013/10/16

We would like to invite you to our upcoming

DIJ Social Science Study Group held on

Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 18:30

Speaker: Tabea Bienek, Free University Berlin

Ikumen Generation - Support Networks for Japanese Fathers

The Japanese working environment continues to hinder men from getting positively involved in parenting. How is it then that fathers interested in parenting – so called Ikumen – are on the rise? In 2010 the word Ikumen was even selected for the Buzzword Awards’s Top Ten. Has the paternal role undergone profound changes from a family sociological perspective?
The Work-Life Balance (WLB) politics of the early 2000s in Japan led to an intensified discussion on the compatibility of work and family life. Only in recent years have fathers become a target group of WLB measures, which can be especially observed in the Work-Life Balance Charter in 2007.
In the last few years, NPOs were formed to address the issue of acceptance for Ikumen. These NPOs are actively engaged in improving the paternal role by offering fathers information and support. In this talk I intend to present preliminary results of my fieldwork on the NPO “Fathering Japan”. Through ethnographic research such as participant observation of NPO events, interviews with NPO staff and members I will explain how the NPO motivates potential participants. My research suggests that the NPO’s network-forming character greatly supports active parenting and can lead to a change in father’s behavior toward parenting.
Despite these findings, a significant change in the paternal role of Japanese fathers cannot be identified yet.

Tabea Bienek studied Japanese studies at Free University (FU) Berlin, minoring in Sinology and German as a Foreign Language. Since 2011, she is a PhD student at FU Berlin doing research on WLB in connection with the changing paternal role in Japan. Tabea Bienek currently works as a lecturer at Chuo-University in Tokyo.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen, B. Holthus, C. Hommerich.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen[at]dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

[SSJ: 8315] Call for Papers: 9th Annual Conference ASAHK

The Asian Studies Association of Hong Kong (ASAHK) invites scholars, researchers and postgraduate students from all disciplines in humanities, education and social sciences to propose papers and panels for its Ninth Annual Conference. Conference participants are welcome to address various issues in the study of Asia from a whole range of fields, including anthropology, business studies, communication, creative arts, culture, economics, education, environment, film, gender and sexuality, health, history, language, literature, management, media, philosophy, politics, psychology, religion and sociology.
Previous ASAHK conferences were held at the City University of Hong Kong in 2006, the University of Hong Kong in 2007, Hong Kong Baptist University in 2008, the Open University of Hong Kong in 2009, the University of Hong Kong in 2010, the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2011, the Hong Kong Shue Yan University in 2012 and the Hong Kong Institute of Education in 2013.

The Ninth Annual Conference of the ASAHK will be held at the University of Hong Kong on 14-15 March 2014.

Theme and Sub-themes
The main theme of the March 2014 conference will be “Culture and Society in Asia: Thematic Issues and Methodologies.”

The sub-themes include the following areas:
(1) Business and social entrepreneurship;
(2) Creativity, media and culture;
(3) Digital culture;
(4) Education, social change and culture;
(5) Environment and sustainable development;
(6) History of Hong Kong, China and Asia;
(7) Literature and culture;
(8) Managing urbanization in Asia;
(9) Public policies and governance; and
(10) Sustainability and education.

Participants are very welcome to submit paper proposals on other themes.

The panel organizer should provide a list of all the papers proposed (including email address and affiliation of the presenter/chair/discussant) plus an abstract of 200 words for each paper to the Organizing Committee by email at: asahkconf9[at]gmail.com

Individual paper proposals are equally welcome. The title of the proposed paper and its abstract of 200 words should also be sent to: asahkconf9[at]gmail.com

Official languages: English and Chinese (Putonghua and Cantonese). Other languages, such as Japanese and Korean, are also welcome. Please mention in your panel proposal the specific language that panel members will use.
The deadline of submission will be December 25, 2013.
If your panel or paper proposal is accepted, the letter of acceptance will be sent to you by email before 15 January 2014.

October 15, 2013

[SSJ: 8314] 【Notice】 Invitation to 84th GRIPS Forum on 28th October

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2013/10/15

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on October 28.

*Please register at gripsforum[at]grips.ac.jp by October 25th (Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Speakers’ Profile:
Born in Great Britain in 1925, Dore specializes in the Japanese economy and social structure and comparative studies of capitalism. He is known as a scholar who is well versed in all things Japanese. He has taught in universities in Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, including the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He is a fellow of the British Academy and an honorary fellow of the LSE. His latest book (in Japanese) is “Nihon no Tenki. Beichu no hazamade dou ikinokoruka (The Japanese Turning Point: How Japan Can Survive Squeezed Between the U.S. and China).” published by Chikumashobo in 2012.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

Speaker: Mahon Murphy, London School of Economics and Political Science

Prisoners of war from Tsingtao during the First World
War: A Comparative Perspective

The historiography of the First World War has over the last few years quickl y shifted beyond the confines of the fields of Flanders and the Somme. The r ipples from the seismic change that the First World War enacted were instant ly felt in countries beyond Europe's borders. The participation of non-Euro pean countries, the economic and military mobilisation of the British and Fr ench Empires means that the war must be looked at from a global context. Int ernment in the First World War perfectly highlights this global phenomenon.
Britain ran a global camp network that stretched from the Isle of Man, to So uth Africa, India, the Caribbean and Australia, while France transferred man y of its prisoners of war to its possessions in North and West Africa. Neutr al countries as far away from Europe as Chile even had internment camps. Jap an housed around
4,800 Prisoners of War, taken after its successful siege of Tsingtao. This talk will offer a comparative perspective on the treatment o f Germans in internment from 1914-1920. The "myth" of the good treatment o f Prisoners of War in Japan is being challenged as more and more research in to the camps is done. In contribution to this debate, the main question thi s talk will seek to address is how did prisoners from the colony of Tsingtao fare in comparison to their counterparts from the other German colonies?

Mahon Murphy is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics and Politi cal Science under the supervision of Professor David Stevenson. His thesis c oncerns the establishment of prisoner of war and civilian internee camps to house internees from the former German colonies. In the course of his resear ch Mahon has received a one year research grant from the DAAD and a Gerda He nkel/l'Historial Peronne Bourse. He is currently a visiting Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin where he is participating in the 1914- 1918-online.net online First World War encyclopaedia. His chapter on the cul tural impact of First World War internment in Japan will be published early next year in an edited volume by Brill.

The DIJ History and Humanities Study Group is a forum for early/mid career researchers and Ph.D. candidates in the field, organized by Torsten Weber.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(weber[at]dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

October 11, 2013

[SSJ: 8312] REMINDER: 2014 ASCJ CFP deadline approaching

From: Gavin Whitelaw
Date: 2013/10/12

Asian Studies Conference Japan is now accepting proposals for panels, roundtables, and individual presentations for ASCJ 2014, to be held on the campus of Sophia University, June 21-22, 2014. The deadine for all submissions is October 15, 2013. Information and online proposal forms are available on the ASCJ
website: http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~ascj/

Everyone world-wide interested in Asian Studies is invited to participate.

* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

Japan is the world’s third largest economy and a super nation brand. It is known best for its cuisine, hospitality, safety, popular and traditional culture and its resilience after 3/11.

Public diplomacy, otherwise known as nation branding, has never been more important in post-3/11 Japan. Japan is playing a game of catch up with its recent announcement of the Japan Brand Fund “to fund and support business activities to cultivate overseas demand for Japan’s attractive products and services that make full use of the unique characteristics of Japan’s culture and lifestyle.” Most every nation now has a public diplomacy entity to promote its unique qualities so even Cool Japan and J-Pop have a lot of global competition.

The winning bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics should put everyone on notice that nation branding is a concern for every Japanese citizen, not just government ministries or businesses pushing their products and services overseas. So how does Japan manage its national image going forward? Nancy Snow will lead an interactive discussion on Japan’s nation brand in the aftermath of 3/11 from Operation Tomodachi to No Nukes.

Speaker

Nancy Snow is a global expert on nation branding. She earned a doctorate in international relations from the School of International Service, American University, Washington, D.C. Dr. Snow is an Abe Fellow at Keio MediaCom where she is conducting research on Japan’s nation brand since 3/11. She is Professor of Communications at California State University, Fullerton and Adjunct Professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. She has held visiting professor appointments in China, Israel, Japan and Malaysia.
Snow has published eight books, two of which were published in Japanese (Information War, Propaganda, Inc.). Her most recent book is Truth is the Best
Propaganda: Edward R. Murrow’s Speeches in the Kennedy Years. For more information, please visit http://www.nancysnow.com/

Her piece on Japan’s nation brand was published in The Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/10/10/commenta
ry/japans-brand-as-good-as-the-people-behind-it/#.Ulcv8
lMmxB4

This illustrated talk, given by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor's Professor of History at UC Irvine and editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, will focus on the international and comparative dimensions of the Boxer Crisis of 1900, which began with a brutal rising by anti-Christian Chinese insurgents and ended with a brutal invasion of China by troops linked to six European powers, the United States and Japan. Among the themes to be addressed are the ways that different catastrophic aspects of the events of 1900 have been emphasized and downplayed in Chinese and foreign presentations of the Boxer Crisis in textbooks, journalism, and various forms of popular media, from films and novels to performances by Buffalo Bill's troupe and an episode of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show. Also to be explored are the ways that memories of and stories about the Boxers have affected Chinese relations with other powers up to the present.
Lecture in English
No registration necessary

Theme: Forward Towards the Past? The Domestic and International Implications of the Return of the LDP

Paper proposals are invited for the forthcoming conference of the European Association of Japanese Studies 2014 to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The politics and international relations section proposes to focus at the forthcoming conference on the recent political developments in Japan and their domestic and international implications. Specifically we welcome papers dealing with topics such as constitutional reform, Japan's 'shift to the right', 21st century trends in voting behaviour and party politics, the period of DPJ rule, 'Abenomics', and Japan's deteriorating regional relations.

We also welcome papers dealing with a broader set of related themes, including political transition, regional security, identity politics and the impact of the ongoing global economic downturn.

We are particularly interested in panel proposals, but also strongly welcome individual submissions on these and related subjects.

Abstracts and panel proposals should be submitted no later than November 30, 2013.

. For individual papers, we kindly ask you to
submit an abstract of not more than 1500 characters.

. For panels, please submit the title of the
panel and an abstract of up to 1500 characters explaining the overall focus, together with a 300 word abstract from each participant. We also need you to identify a chair.

. All proposals should be anonymous (i.e. the
abstract should not include the author's name and affiliation, nor shall it be printed on the author's private or university letter head), but be accompanied by presenter name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and email address(es) to be entered into a separate form

. Any audio-visual equipment requirements you
might have need to be submitted together with your proposal.

Applicants will be informed of the results of their submissions by the end of January 2014. Accepted presenters will be asked to submit a short, one paragraph biographical statement.

October 09, 2013

[SSJ: 8308] Travel grants to use Japanese collections in North Carolina

From: Kristina Troost, Ph.D.
Date: 2013/10/09

The Triangle Center for Japanese Studies is pleased to offer travel grants to scholars outside the Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill/Greensboro area to conduct Japan-related research at Triangle institutions using Japanese materials in the Duke Library , UNC's Ackland Art Museum
or NCSU's Gregg Museum of Art and Design .

Duke's East Asian Collection consists of about 85,000 volumes in Japanese. The Japanese collection is focused on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is especially strong in art history, Buddhism, history, labor, literature, popular culture (film, advertising and manga), women's studies and the Japanese colonial experience. We have a fairly comprehensive collection of Japanese databases,
http://databases.library.duke.edu/content.php?pid=34547
8.

The Ackland Art Museum's collection
dex.htm> was built by Sherman Lee and is notable for Japanese paintings and sculpture.

NCSU's Gregg Museum of Art and Design holds textiles and ceramics while the NCSU libraries have strong collections in design, landscape architecture and textiles.

GRANT AMOUNT: $750 to cover travel, hotel and photocopy expenses

PRIORITY GIVEN TO APPLICANTS:

* who document how their research will benefit from access to Japan-related materials in the Triangle and whose research will take advantage of our strengths
* who are located in the Southeast or at institutions which do not have easy access to comparable resources.

DEADLINES:

* Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis. A total of ten awards will be made.
* Awards must be used and receipts submitted by August 15, 2014.
* Each recipient is required to submit a short summary of the research accomplished with the grant by August 15,2014.

TO APPLY:
Submit (email applications preferred) a brief description of your research topic, sources in the collection you plan to use, a brief curriculum vitae, and an estimated budget to Kristina Troost, kktroost[at]duke.edu . If you have any questions, please contact me first.

Dr. Kristina Troost
Head, East Asian Collection
Dept. of International and Area Studies
Duke University
kktroost[at]duke.edu
919-660-5844

[SSJ: 8307] CALL FOR PANELS: IUAES 2014 Inter-Congress with JASCA

From: Yuki Imoto
Date: 2013/10/09

CALL FOR PANELS NOW OPEN

International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences

2014 Inter-Congress with JASCA

Dear Colleagues

We are pleased to announce that the IUAES 2014 Inter-Congress will be take place in Chiba City, Greater Tokyo, in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology (JASCA).

The conference will be held between 15 and 18 May 2014, and aims to attract over 250 delegates from around the world.

The theme of the conference is the Future with/of Anthropologies. The intention is to bring together discussion and debate on the futures of various 'anthropologies', and on the futures of 'humanity', 'culture'
and 'society' engaged with as well conceptualized within anthropology.

We encourage submission of panel proposals, and details of the submission process are indicated on the conference homepage.

http://www.iuaes.org/japan2014/index.shtml

Panel proposers should submit a title, short and long abstract via the on-line submission system by the deadline of 3rd November 2013.

The call for papers will be open from 28th November
2013 until 9th January 2014 and papers will be proposed to specific panels.

Queries regarding the submission process should be addressed to:

conference(at)iuaes.org

Queries for the Japanese steering committee should be addressed to:

conference_secretary(at)jasca.org

This joint conference comes at a critical moment in terms of finding new pathways for engagement among world anthropologies. JASCA is one of the largest anthropological associations in the world with over two thousand members yet the vast extent of its production of anthropological knowledge has remained relatively contained within the Japanese-language community. The conference aims to create new dialogue, connections and cross-fertilization of ideas for a more open network of anthropologists for the future.

We look forward to receiving a stream of thematic panel proposals for this important event.

Junji Koizumi
Secretary-General, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences President, Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology

* Please note that this event will be at MITA HALL of TUJ campus.
* Feel free to circulate this invitation to friends or colleagues.

Richard Smethurst: Takahashi Korekiyo - Precursor of Abenomics?

Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm
Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F
(access: http://www.tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html)
Speaker:Richard J. Smethurst, Professor Emeritus of History and UCIS Research Professor, University of Pittsburgh Moderator:Robert Dujarric, ICAS Director
Admission: Free. Open to public
Language: English
RSVP:icas@tuj.temple.edu
* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しください。

[Overview]

>From his illegitimate birth and adoption into the lowest stratum of the samurai class to his assassination by right-wing militarists, Takahashi Korekiyo (1854-1936) lived through tumultuous times that shaped Japan's course. Takahashi is considered "Japan's Keynes" because of the forward-thinking (and controversial) fiscal and monetary policies--including deficit financing, currency devaluation, and lower interest rates--that he implemented to help Japan rebound from the Great Depression five years before America’s recovery.

[Speaker]

Richard J. Smethurst is Professor Emeritus of History and UCIS Research Professor, University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of the acclaimed biography of Takahashi: >From Foot Soldier to Finance Minister: Takahashi Korekiyo, Japan's Keynes (Harvard East Asian Monographs), which has been published in Japanese translation by Tôyô keizai shinpô. He has authored several other books and numerous articles on contemporary Japan (see:
http://www.history.pitt.edu/faculty/smethurst-cv.php).

[SSJ: 8305] Job announcement

From: Gunilla Lindberg-Wada
Date: 2013/10/09

Dear colleagues,

Allow me to draw you attention to the following job announcement at Stockholm University (application deadline October 31, 2013) The link to the webpage is:
http://www.su.se/english/about/vacancies/lecturers-rese
archers/professor-in-japanese-language-and-culture-1.15
0378

With kindest regards,
Gunilla Lindberg-Wada
Professor of Japanese Studies
Stockholm University

At the Department of Oriental Languages research and teaching are conducted in the fields of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indology and Middle Eastern Studies.
There are professorships in each of these fields. About
50 employees work at the Department. The number of active students in Japanese amounts to approximately 500.

Responsibilities: The holder is expected to conduct research, and to teach and supervise students at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. The holder is also expected to participate in current activities of the Department of Oriental Languages and the Faculty of Humanities, and to establish contacts outside of Stockholm University. The subject area is the Japanese Language and Culture, in a broad sense, with the main emphasis on today’s Japan.

Qualification requirements: The applicant should present documented evidence of his/her research expertise and teaching ability. Furthermore, the applicant should demonstrate scientific skills, through independent research, that exceed the requirements for being awarded the title of ‘Docent’ (Associate Professor). The applicant’s teaching ability will be assessed with regard to his/her capability to plan, implement and evaluate teaching, supervision and examination.

An excellent practical and theoretical command of the Japanese language is a requirement for this position, as well as scientific merits within the field of Japanese Language and Culture.

Assessment criteria: Special emphasis will be paid, in the appointment process, to academic skills demonstrated through independent research. Emphasis will be paid to teaching proficiency. Academic management and administrative skills are given importance, as well as the ability to communicate research by means of popularizing science. Other merits include access to networks, a demonstrated experience of fund raising, and ability to attract research grants. Scientific merits within the field of Japanese Language and Culture, and a general ability to collaborate, are crucial in the assessment process.
Eventually, the applicant that will be offered this position, is he/she who is the most qualified to pursue the development of Japanese Studies at Stockholm University, as well as the most qualified to develop and perform his/her duties as a professor.

The assessment of the applicant’s scientific skills and teaching proficiency will be weighted equally.

A good command of Swedish is not a requirement for this position. However, the applicant is expected to acquire such a command, within the initial two years of employment, in order to conduct educational and administrative duties that require the use of Swedish.

Note that a maximum of 10 scientific papers will be submitted for assessment. .

Additional information: Since most professors at the Faculty of Humanities are men, we particularly welcome female applicants.

Further information about the position can be obtained from the head of department, dr Alberto Tiscornia, prefekt[at]orient.su.se

October 08, 2013

[SSJ: 8304] The Department of Society, Culture, and Media at International Christian University in Tokyo announces search for full-time faculty position in Interpreting Studies

From: curran
Date: 2013/10/08

The Department of Society, Culture, and Media at International Christian University in Tokyo is pleased to announce an open search for a full-time faculty position in Interpreting Studies. The deadline for submission of the application materials is 20 November 2013.For details, please see the Announcement of Faculty Positions available at ICU on the University webpage.

In Japanese:
http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gjg/KOBO/index.html
In English:
http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gjg/KOBO/index_e.html

The volume provides a detailed study and assessment of social movements among young Japanese from the late 1980s until the present day. Discussing anti-war mobilizations, freeter unions, artists in the homeless movement, campus protest, anti-nuclear protest and activists engaged in support for social withdrawers, the author documents how new forms of activism developed hand-in-hand with experiments in using alternative spaces outside mainstream public areas and a struggle with the traumatic legacy of the failure of earlier protest movements. Despite the relative absence of open protest during much of the 1990s, the author demonstrates that this was an important preparatory period, full of experimentation, in which the foundations for today’s protest movements were laid.
This book will be welcomed by students of sociological theory relating to Japan as well as those studying the trends and dynamics of contemporary ‘post-Bubble’
Japanese society.

Table of contents:

Preface.
Introduction.

1. Trauma, empowerment and alternative space
- Collective trauma
- Empowerment and the role of alternative space in social movements

2. Japan’s lost decade and two recoveries
- The end of the bubble and the arrival of precarity
- The sense of closure and the legacy of previous protest
- Lost decade, regained activism?

3. The new cultural movements
- The storm of autumn
- The league of good-for-nothings
- Anti-war protests and the prehistory of sound-demos

4. The rise of movements against precarity
- The General Freeter Union and the ‘precariat’
- ‘Life’ and ‘survival’ in the precarity movement

5. Space, art and homelessness
- Public space, counter-space and no-man’s-land
- Art beyond the pleasure principle: The Shinjuku cardboard village
- Anti-poverty and Viva poverty
- “Waking up from the dream”: Nagai Park’s theatre of resistance
- Miyashita Park: Can a no-man’s-land be defended?

6. Alternative space, withdrawal and empowerment
- Support groups for social withdrawers and NEET
- Freeter Unions: narratives of recovery

7. Campus protest

8. The recovery of activism
- Three innovations of freeter activism
- The importance of space – contestation and bracketing
- Fukushima and beyond

The Japanese political economy system has been perceived as highly homogeneous (although segmented) and stable, because deeply rooted in a specific cultural and social environment.
Its trajectory for more than 30 years has deeply contradicted this vision of the Japanese capitalism with a gradual but nonetheless significant institutional change and an increasing diversity at the micro level. More precisely, it has been characterized by liberalization but absence of convergence towards liberal capitalism. It means that the research program on Japanese economics, business and political economy has to shift from an analysis of the so-called J model to a study that aims at understanding diversity and institutional change. This perspective requires new concepts and tools of analysis in order to capture discrete forms of heterogeneity and to understand the underlying dialectic and conflictual dynamics of institutional change and innovation.
We would like to invite individual papers for the following topics on Japanese economics, business and political economy:
• Evolution of the organizational diversity and performance dispersion • Evaluating institutional change, its mechanisms and its outcomes • Linking organizational diversity and institutional change • Decentralization, liberalization, disorganization and coordination • Interests groups, social dynamics, coalitions, conflicts, and politics • Life courses, gender roles, welfare state, and political economy • Diversity and its impact on inequalities • Forms of cooperation and competition in the world economy • The Japanese trajectory in historical perspective and international comparison Moreover, clearly focused panel proposals are also welcomed to other topics concerning economics, business and political economy of Japan.

Keynote speaker: Professor Mari Sako (Saïd Business School, Oxford University) will be the keynote speaker for our section. As one of the best specialist of the Japanese economy and Japanese firm, she has particularly contributed to the understanding of the relations between diversity and institutional change in the Japanese economy. More information can be found here: http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/research/people/Pages/MariSako.aspx.

Post-conference Publication: We are planning to publish the papers in a special issue of a refereed journal. As the convenors of the economic section we are already in contact with publishers and editors of refereed journals. This would mean that a revised version of the conference paper must be submitted soon after the conference for the double-blind review process. In case you are wishing to be considered for the post-conference publication please submit not only the abstract but also a full manuscript by July 31, 2014.

Language: Papers at the conference can be given in English or Japanese. However, abstracts and papers for the post-conference publication should be in English.

Submission:
• Abstracts and panel proposals should be submitted no later than November 30, 2013.
• Please use the online submission system of the section:
http://www.eajs.eu/index.php?id=664
• For individual papers, we kindly ask you to submit an abstract of not more than 1500 characters.
• For panels, please submit the title of the panel and an abstract of up to 1500 characters explaining the overall focus, together with a 300 word abstract from each participant. We also need you to identify a chair.
• All proposals should be anonymous (i.e. the abstract should not include the author's name and affiliation, nor shall it be printed on the author's private or university letter head), but be accompanied by presenter name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and email address(es) to be entered into a separate form.
• Any audio-visual equipment requirements you might have need to be submitted together with your proposal.

Acceptance Notification: Applicants will be informed of the results of their submissions by the end of January 2014. Accepted presenters will be asked to submit a short, one paragraph biographical statement.
For further inquiries please contact the convenors at the following e-mail address:
economics[at]eajs.eu

The Department of Society, Culture, and Media at International Christian University (ICU) is pleased to announce an open rank search for a full-time faculty position in the sociology of gender. The successful applicant is expected to have a Ph.D. in Sociology and teach the sociology of gender, an additional substantive area of sociology, research methods, introductory sociology, and a general education course.
We are especially interested in candidates with an ability to teach quantitative methods. Rank and salary are based upon qualifications and experience. The application must be postmarked by November 30, 2013.

Detailed information regarding the position and application procedure can be found at http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/gjg/KOBO/Gendere130920.html

October 07, 2013

[SSJ: 8300] CJG Announcement--Ellis S. Krauss, October 15

From: Gregory Noble
Date: 2013/10/7

The Contemporary Japan Group at the Institute of Social Science (ISS, or Shaken), University of Tokyo, welcomes you to a lecture by Ellis S. Krauss, Professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California San Diego, on

Abe's Political Challenges: Myths and Realities

Tuesday, October 15th 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyutō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo.

ABSTRACT

Why despite having a parliamentary system doesn’t Japan’s political and policy processes resemble a “Westminster” system like the U.K.’s? After Koizumi’s
2005 election victory many expected that Japan would now move toward a Westminster system model of relatively stable prime ministerial leadership and “top-down” policymaking . Instead it has had 6 prime ministers who lasted less than a year. With Abe’s and the LDP’s great majorities in the 2012 House of Representatives and 2013 House of Councilors elections, once again the hope or fear is that strong prime ministerial “top down” policymaking has arrived in Japan. But will it actually happen that way? Krauss will argue that the answers to all these puzzles and questions are related: electoral and administrative reform and Koizumi accomplished only partially what Japan would need to become a “Westminster”
parliamentary democracy. Although Abe has some advantages previous prime ministers have not had, he will confront many of the formal and informal institutional obstacles to real “cabinet government” in Japan that still exist.

SPEAKER

Ellis Krauss is a Professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University (1973). An expert on postwar Japanese politics and on U.S.-Japan relations, He has published a coauthored book with Robert Pekkanen (U. of
Washington) about the development of Japan’s long-time ruling party, The Rise and Fall of Japan’s LDP:
Political Party Organizations as Historical Institutions (Cornell University Press 2011). He and Pekkanen also now have begun a book project on political leadership in postwar Japan. One of his other authored and edited books is Beyond Bilateralism:
U.S.-Japan Relations in the New Asia-Pacific (co-edited with T.J. Pempel; Stanford University Press 2004). He has published numerous articles in professional political science and Asian Studies journals, including The American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Japanese Studies, Journal of East Asian Studies and others.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP:

The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.

[SSJ: 8299] From I-House about a lecture (Nov.19)

japan[at]ihj
Potential and Limits of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)---Cases in U.S., Europe and Japan---
Lecturer: David Vogel (Professor, University of California, Berkeley)
Commentator: Umezu Mitsuhiro (Associate Professor, Keio
University)
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 7:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Hall, International House of Japan
Organizer: International House of Japan
Admission: Free (Reservation required)
Language: English (without Japanese interpretation)

With the increase in concern about environment issues, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities have drawn much attention in Japan and many corporations have conducted various efforts. In this program, Dr.
Vogel will give his analysis of the contemporary CSR movement citing cases in the United States and Europe as well as new developments in the CSR debate. Dr.
Vogel will touch upon not only the social impact CSR activities have but also the profitability of the companies and its connection to stock holders.
Additionally, Dr. Umezu Mitsuhiro of Keio University will comment on current CSR activities of Japanese companies.

David Vogel
David Vogel is a leading authority in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics in the U.S. His research focuses on business-government relations with a particular emphasis on the comparative and international dimensions of environmental and consumer regulation.
His books include The Market for Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility (Brookings, 2005), and The Dynamics of Regulatory
Change: How Globalization Affects National Regulatory Policies (UC Press, 2004).

With generous funding from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, the North American Coordinating Council's Multi-Volume Sets Project makes grants for the purchase of expensive multi-volume sets of Japanese language materials. In the last two decades MVS has created a circulating national collection of Japanese resources numbering more than 43,000 items held in 37 institutions in all regions of the United States.

[SSJ: 8297] 【Notice】 Invitation to 83rd GRIPS Forum on 7th October

From: GRIPS Forum
Date: 2013/10/02

Dear SSJ-Friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the next GRIPS Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies on October 7.

*Please register at gripsforum[at]grips.ac.jp by October 4
(Fri) without changing the title.
*If you are arriving by a private car, please let us know the car information (type, color, and number) in advance so that we can register it for campus entry permission.

Euglena is a microalga that possesses both animal and plant characteristics. It contains almost all the necessary nutrients required by the human body and is expected to find applications as an ingredient in functional foods and cosmetics. Furthermore, research is being encouraged in the application of Euglena for carbon dioxide fixation in photosynthesis and as a raw material for bio jet fuel.
In 2005, euglena Co., Ltd. succeeded in the world’s first outdoor mass cultivation of Euglena. Cooperating with universities and companies in Japan, euglena Co., Ltd. is aiming at solving food and environmental problems at a global level using Euglena.

Speakers’ Profile:
In 2002, he graduated in Agricultural Structure and Business Administration from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, and started working at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd.
In August 2005, he founded euglena Co., Ltd. and has since then been serving as the President of the company.
In December 2005, he succeeded in cultivating the world’s first outdoor Euglena on a massive scale for use in food products.
He received the “Minister Prize of Economic, Trade and Industry,” Japan Venture Awards 2012, presented by the Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan, in 2012. He was also selected as one of the “Young Global Leaders” for 2012, which is organized by the World Economic Forum (Annual Meeting in Davos). He believes that “Euglena will save the Earth.”
He authored a book titled “Bokuwa midorimushide sekaio sukuukotoni kimemashita (in Japanese) [I will save the Earth with Euglena],” which was published by DIAMOND, Inc.

*** GRIPS Forum ***
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), as the only graduate school in Japan specializing in policy research, has promoted education and research on a wide range of policy issues.
Utilizing our vast policy network, this Forum invites leaders from various fields including government, academia and business, as well as staff from our own faculty, to deliver lectures on current policy concerns.
The Forum welcomes attendance of GRIPS faculty and students as well as participants from outside the university. Simultaneous interpretation will be available (Japanese/English).

The Japanese word, Ikumen which originated from Ikemen (handsome men) refers to those “cool” fathers who are actively involved in caring for their own children.
This word has become well-known among the Japanese public as evidenced by it being nominated one of the top 10 words in 2010 Buzzwords-of-the-Year Contest. In this lecture, we focus on this Ikumen phenomenon by describing historical and contemporary social, economic and political factors that contributed to the increase of Japanese fathers’ participation in child care.
Antecedents and consequences of fathers’ participation in child care will also be examined from sociological perspectives.
Most of the findings presented in this lecture come from the data collected in two projects, “Gender Sensitive Approaches to Work-Life-Balance” and “Parenting in IT Society.” Our analyses show that workplace factors as well as family socialization are significant factors affecting paternal involvement.
Implications of our research findings will also be discussed in relation to policies, education and practice. Theoretically, the work is based on the well-established concept of lead market theory, which shows that innovations frequently achieve global acceptance when they were previously successful in the product-specific lead market – making knowledge about lead markets a must for innovating companies.
Masako Ishii-Kuntz is a Professor in Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo. Her areas of specialization include family sociology, gender studies and quantitative methods. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Washington State University. She has also taught at the University of California, Riverside prior to her current position. She has published three books (plus two in press) and more than 120 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, reviews and research reports. Her recent research focuses on how fathers and mothers of young children utilize IT tools and SNS (social networking
service) in their child caring activities.

The lecture will be given in English. It will take place on Thursday, October 17, 2013 at 6.30 p.m. at the DIJ. Admission is free, please register at forum[at]dijtokyo.org Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Tel: 03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420

* If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If
possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome
participants even you do not RSVP.
* RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しくださ
い。

Overview

“Professor Risley” was the stage name of Richard Risley Carlisle. Born in New Jersey in 1814, Risley became a famous acrobat in North America and Europe in the 1840s. Later in life, he also became an entertainment impresario who helped pioneer the Asian entertainment circuit. The story of how this larger-than-life character introduced circus to Japan in 1864, and how he triggered a craze for Japanese performers in the West in 1867, is part of a fascinating lost-but-recently-uncovered history. In a presentation heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings, Frederik L. Schodt will reveal the incredible but true story of Risley and his troupe, who gave the world one of its first glimpses of Japanese popular culture.

Speaker

Frederik L. Schodt is a writer, translator, and conference interpreter based in the San Francisco area.
He specializes in currents of thought flowing between Japan and North America, and has written extensively on popular culture, technology, and history. He has won numerous awards, including, in 2009, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work. In 2013, his book, Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe, won the Circus Historical Society’s Stuart Thayer Prize. His website is at www.jai2.com . A more extensive profile can be viewed at www.jai2.com/fredbio.htm .

The Japan Times review of his book is at http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2012/12/09/books/gl
obe-trotting-acrobat-left-a-mark-on-japan/#.UhKcVJKG18E

MVS supports the purchase of expensive sets for teaching and research, with a special grant category for smaller collections, paying up to 80% of the purchase cost of sets costing over ¥100,000.

1) Qualified smaller institutions
(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=358716&sid=
2933706#10296234 ) are those with a Japanese materials acquisitions budget of less than $10,000 per year. Such institutions may receive up to 80% of the purchase price for sets needed for research and undergraduate education on Japan. All the shipping and handling costs for small institutions are also fully covered by MVS.

2) Traditional MVS Applicants
(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=358716&sid=
2933706#10296307 ) are institutions with annual Japanese language acquisitions budgets of more than $10,000. Those institutions may receive 75% of the purchase cost of sets for which no others circulate in the US, or 50% for those which have only one circulating copy in the US. All shipping and handling costs must be covered by the institution in this category.

Online Application Assistance: NCC has created a YouTube
tutorial(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=358
716&sid=2933708#10694597 ) to help applicants understand the steps for conducting a full bibliographic search, required by MVS. To further assist potential applicants in locating eligible title’s NCC has compile a list of high-price multi-volume set
titles(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=35871
6&sid=2933705#15413717 ). The eligibility of second-hand copies has also made it possible for applicants to construct a set through a combination of used and new titles.

Prescreening
Process(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=3587
16&sid=2933708#10296236 ): After completing the required full bibliographic search, applicants may submit titles for prescreening by the MVS Committee.
MVS will then conduct an extensive search of sets not yet cataloged, to double-check the uniqueness of submitted titles. While prescreening is not required for MVS applications, it helps prevent submission of multiple applications for the same title, and institutions that complete the prescreening process have priority over other institutions that may apply for the same title without prescreening.

Please use NCC’s downloadable online template to submit titles for prescreening, emailing their titles to MVS co-chair Tomoko Bialock (tbialock[at]usc.edu) by October 15, 2013. Please note that an application for prescreening is NOT an MVS grant application. A final application, with supporting letters, is required to receive an MVS grant.

Final Application
Process(http://guides.nccjapan.org/content.php?pid=3587
16&sid=2933709#10296237 ): A complete checklist of application criteria and supporting documents for a full application can be found on the MVS homepage at:
http://guides.nccjapan.org/mvs. Please use the final application template provided on the MVS homepage to submit a complete grant application packet by email attachment to: mvs2013-14application[at]nccjapan.net no later than midnight December 20, 2013.

Announcement of MVS Awards will be made by March 1,
2014

************
Since 1992 MVS has funded more than 43,000 items now held by 37 institutions in the US. To locate and use MVS titles please use NCC’s fully searchable MVS Database linked to the OPAC records of the holding institutions at: http://www.nccjapan.net/mvs.asp. All MVS funded titles freely circulate nationally via interlibrary loan. The Japan-US Friendship Commission generously funds MVS with supplemental support from Japan Publications Trading Company, Ltd.
************

We would like to inform you that a session focusing on Japanese society and Japanese culture will be taking place as part of the World Congress of Sociology in Yokohama next year. Although the deadline is coming soon, we look forward to receiving additional contributions from those who might be interested.

- - - - - - -

This session will be in English.

DESCRIPTION:

This session intends to focus on Japanese society and Japanese culture.
Taking Japan as a case, we hope to delve deeper and highlight some of the key similarities and differences emerging out of theoretical and empirical research done on Japan and in other cultural contexts. In so doing, we aim to open new questions and revitalize a variety of discussions of importance for the sociology of communication, knowledge and culture.

To better explore the different facets of Japanese culture, we welcome papers touching on a wide variety of questions, including but not limited to ones concerning traditional and popular culture, the articulation of Japanese culture with media and technology, its institutions, its economy, its politics. Furthermore, papers may contribute to any or all dimensions or the research process, whether theoretical, empirical or methodological.

Abstract The Japanese mainstream media’s
relentless promotion of idols in the period after the triple disaster in Fukushima is a reflection of the importance of consumption to Japan’s precarious post-industrial economy. Rather than a sign of economic prosperity, the intensification of the idol industry in recent years, after a period of decline in the 1990s, is a product of Japan’s unsustainable consumption-based media system thrown into crisis by globalization and convergence. In modern societies, institutionalized systems of risk, such as consumer markets, are highly unpredictable and unstable, since much of what we consume is defined more in terms of its exchange rather than use value. Like all institutionalized risk cultures, consumer culture too in Japan engages in the reflexive monitoring of risk.
Just as the Hollywood star system provided a guarantee, or promise, against loss on investment for the film industry, idols are an immunity against instability since they regulate and ensure regular consumption in post-industrial society. For the media industry, idols colonize the future by dispersing risk into a more manageable system for regulating consumer desire. This presentation will examine television advertising and the role of Japanese celebrities in charitable activities in the wake of 3.11. Through spectacles of mediated suffering, the Japanese mass media have sought to re-constitute audiences who have become cynical and disillusioned with its disposable, tabloid culture.
Just as the distinction between labor and leisure, paid and unpaid work, and production and consumption have disappeared, charity (jizen) and self-promotion (gizen) have also become indistinguishable in today’s capitalist society. This analysis will reveal how the Japanese media is clinging to power through the domestication of suffering, sacrifice, and spectacle in the period after 3.11. In the process of national recovery, anachronistic appeals to traditional values of perseverance and sacrifice, which echoed the rhetoric of wartime conservation, have confronted the reality of a post-industrial economy that increasingly thrives on affective consumer economics.

Bio Jason G. Karlin is an associate professor in
the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in gender and media studies, and is the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and author of the forthcoming Gender and Nation in Meiji Japan: Modernity, Loss, and the Doing of History (University of Hawaii Press, May 2014).

Over three seminars in Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo, the Mansfield Foundation U.S.-Japan Nuclear Working Group will present and discuss its recently released report:
Statement on Shared Strategic Priorities in the Aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident. Seminars are free and open to the public; simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

At its annual conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i in 2014, the Japan Studies Association will mark its twentieth anniversary. Established in San Diego in the spring of 1994, the JSA has assisted its members - primarily teachers from American two- and four-year colleges and universities - in acquiring first-hand knowledge about Japan and infusing it into the curriculum. Through workshops and study-tours, and the professional networking they enable, JSA's members have been inspired to engage in curriculum development, design study-abroad programs, and initiate Japan-focused or comparative research; members share their insights through the Japan Studies Association Journal and the organization's annual national conference.

Please join us at Hawai'i Tokai International College in Honolulu in January 2014 to celebrate twenty years of JSA's achievements, reconnect with Freeman workshop alumni and share your continuous and new pedagogical and research interests in Japan's literary and cultural traditions, historical and economic developments, socio-political and religious practices past and present. We invite proposals for individual presentations, discipline-specific or interdisciplinary panels, roundtables on pedagogy and teaching innovation, and staged readings from both faculty and graduate students. The following ideas can serve as useful points of departure:

* Historical, social, economic or political perspectives on Japan's relationships with its national or regional self, minorities and neighbors in East Asia;

* Imaging disaster - responding to adversity and war through political and religious narrative and discourse, the fine and performing arts, popular culture, literature and film;

* Youth and popular culture in Japan; manga and anime at home and abroad;

* Pre-modern, modern or contemporary Japanese literature and culture, music, theatre, film;

* Tradition and innovation in Japanese philosophy, aesthetics and material culture;

* Japan's religious traditions, sacred texts, art and architecture;

* Pedagogy, field trips and study tours: teaching Japanese language and culture - reflections and strategies, hurdles and achievements;

* Infusing Japanese Studies into the undergraduate curriculum - successful course and program development, faculty collaboration and ways to engage with institutional core goals;

* New voices in Japanese Studies: graduate student research;

* Plenary discussion of a Japanese literary, historical or theoretical text: suggestions solicited.

We encourage both east-west and inter-Asian comparative approaches and would particularly welcome contributions by graduate students and by alumni of JSA's Freeman Foundation intensive workshops on Japan held between
2002 and 2013. Please contact colleagues with whom you share pedagogical and research interests and form a panel or a roundtable; this ensures engaging presentations and follow-up discussions.

Annually, JSA offers up to three graduate student scholarships, $500 each. To be eligible, students must be enrolled full time in a graduate program in any content area related to Japan and must have a paper accepted for the 2014 conference. Please submit a complete copy of your paper, making sure that "graduate student" appears clearly on its first page. The successful applicants will be notified in October when acceptance letters are sent out to all conference participants.

To send an abstract for an individual presentation of approximately 250 words or a 500-word proposal for a themed panel, roundtable or staged reading, go to:
http://www.japanstudies.org/proposals.html Make sure you include the names, institutional affiliation and contact information of all presenters. We hope to see you in Honolulu in January!

The deadline for proposals is 10 October 2013.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 20 October 2013.
For more information, see http://www.japanstudies.org/ or contact the conference co-chairs: Maggie Ivanova (Maggie.Ivanova[at]flinders.edu.au ) and Thomas Campbell (campbelt[at]wabash.edu )

Maggie Ivanova, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Drama, Honours and Postgraduate Coordinator JSA Conference Program Co-Chair and Board Member at Large Flinders University of South Australia
E-mail: Maggie.Ivanova[at]flinders.edu.au

About the speaker: Professor Takeo Hoshi is Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Senior Fellow at the Walter H.
Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University and Professor of Finance (by courtesy) at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Before he joined Stanford University in 2012, he was Pacific Economic Cooperation Professor in International Economic Relations at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he conducted research and taught on the Japanese economy for 24 years. Professor Hoshi also serves on the Board of Directors at Union Bank. He is also Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and at the Tokyo Center for Economic Research (TCER). His main research interest includes the study of the financial aspects of the Japanese economy, especially corporate finance, banking, and monetary policy. He received 2011 Reischauer International Education Award of Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, 2006 Enjoji Jiro Memorial Prize of Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha, and
2005 Japan Economic Association-Nakahara Prize. Takeo received his B.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Tokyo in 1983, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988.

About the talk: Recently, the Bank of Japan upgraded its assessment of the economy, declaring that Japan's economy is back on a recovery track and Prime Minister Abe appears to have made up his mind to go ahead with a planned sales tax hike in April 2014.
We would like to focus on whether PM Abe's economic policies can really lift the economy out of deflation and that the economy will continue to recover moderately which will lead to sustainable growth. In the presentation, we have invited Professor Takeo Hoshi, Stanford University to hear his thoughts to better understand the abenomics.

September 19, 2013

Over three seminars in Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo, the Mansfield Foundation U.S.-Japan Nuclear Working Group will present and discuss its recently released report:
Statement on Shared Strategic Priorities in the Aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident. Seminars are free and open to the public; simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Dear friends, we are happy to invite you a special event with several former American prisoners of war who are visiting Japan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a dialogue program. We are honored to be able to host them again for three consecutive years.

This program by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entitled “2013 The Japanese/POW Friendship Program”, seeks to promote of mutual understanding between the Japanese and American people by inviting former American POWs, their spouses and their descendants to Japan as a gesture of reconciliation.
The program started in 2010.

[Speakers' profile]

Phillip W. COON, a full blood Muscogee Creek, was born on May 28, 1919 in Okemah, Oklahoma. He enlisted on September 29, 1941, and spent the following month en route to his first duty station. Mr. Coon arrived in Manila, the Philippines, on October 23, 1941, where he joined the 31st Infantry Regiment as 30 caliber machine gunner. He was captured by the Japanese on April 11,
1942 and forced to endure the Bataan Death March. His first stop after surviving the harrowing journey was O’Donnell Prison Camp at Capas Tarlac for two months, then traveling for the next two years across Cabanatuan, Camp Lipa, Camp Murphy, and Bilibid. In September 1944, Mr. Coon was transported to Sendai, Japan and placed at the Kosaka POW camp.
After his liberation, he returned to the U.S. and was discharged from serviced as a Corporal from Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on June 24, 1946. With his wife, Helen, and son, Michael, he has served as a pillar of the Sapulpa Creek community ever since.

Robert B. HEER (TSgt, ret.) was born in Dubuque, Iowa on November 30, 1921. He served with the 19th Bombardment Group until his capture in May 10, 1942 in Malay Balay, Mindanao. He was moved to Formosa (Taiwan), where he was held in Karenko and later, Heito
#3 for nearly two years. In 1945, he was transported on an unknown freighter to the island of Honshu, where he was then transported to Taihoku #6 in Hakodate, and eventually, Dispatch Camp #2 in Akabira, Hokkaido. In Akabira, TSgt Heer was forced to work for the Sumitomo Mines. In spite of the unconditional surrender on 15 August, he was not officially liberated until early September, 1945.
After the war, he earned a degree in Photography before returning to active duty military service, retiring as a Technical Sergeant 1966. He is married to Karen HEER, and has four children.

Erwin R. JOHNSON was born on October 19, 1921 in New Orleans, Lousiana. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on September 17, 1940. After brief stints in Barksdale Air Base and Hunter Air Field, he shipped out to Manila, the Philippines aboard the USS COOLIDGE, where he arrived for duty on November 20, 1941. He served with the 2nd Provisional Infantry until falling under Japanese control in April 1942. After surviving the Bataan Death march, he was held in Cabanatuan until shipping out on the Tottori Maru to Pusan, Korea, via Formosa. From there, he was transported via train to Mukden, Manchuria, where he worked as a Machinist until liberated by the Russians on August 17, 1945.
After the war, he returned home to New Orleans, Louisiana and earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tulane University. He published a memoir detailing his experiences entitled, By the Grace of God …He has five boys, and currently lives in New York with his wife, Ann JOHNSON.

Marvin A. ROSLANSKY was born on November 11, 1922 in Minnesota. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. He was captured on Guam on December 9, 1941. From there, he was transported at Zentsuji, Shikoku, and forced to work as a freight laborer for three years and ten months until his liberation in 1945.
He currently resides in Mesa, Arizona, with his wife, Josephine.

Lora CUMMINS is a widow of Ferron E. CUMMINS, who was transported to Mukaishima,Hiroshima.

Marjean McGREW is a widow of Alfred McGREW, who was transported to Japan and taken to Suwa, Japan, and eventually returned to Yokohama where he was liberated.

Ester JENNINGS is a widow of Clinton JENNINGS. He was captured in the Philippines and was eventually transported to Fukuoka, where he worked as a coal miner.

[SSJ: 8283] Seeking panel members for JSA: Japanese foreign/security policies in the post-WWII era

From: Yoneyuki Sugita
Date: 2013/09/18

Dear Colleagues:

I plan to organize a panel on post-WWII Japanese foreign/security policies for the 20th Annual Japan Studies Association Conference (2-4 January 2014) http://www.japanstudies.org/2014-conference.html

I am looking for two more presenters, one chair, and possibly one discussant.
If you are interested in joining this panel, please send me your brief bio, tentative title, and brief abstract to Yone Sugita (sugita[at]lang.osaka-u.ac.jp).

This book is about the many "discourses of discipline"
that encircle the issue of "corporal punishment"
(taibatsu). These discourses encompass the ways that people discuss discipline and the patterns of rhetoric of what discipline should be, as well as what discipline signifies. By scrutinizing these discourses of discipline, this work disentangles the allegedly intimate ties between culture, discipline, and pedagogy in Japanese schools and sports.

For more information on this monograph, including how to order it, please visit http://ieas.berkeley.edu/publications/jrm17.html

If you do not currently receive IEAS Publications announcements but would like to, please send an e-mail to ieaseditor[at]berkeley.edu with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
If you no longer wish to receive IEAS Publications announcements, please send an e-mail to ieaseditor[at]berkeley.edu with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Abstract The Japanese mainstream media’s
relentless promotion of idols in the period after the triple disaster in Fukushima is a reflection of the importance of consumption to Japan’s precarious post-industrial economy. Rather than a sign of economic prosperity, the intensification of the idol industry in recent years, after a period of decline in the 1990s, is a product of Japan’s unsustainable consumption-based media system thrown into crisis by globalization and convergence. In modern societies, institutionalized systems of risk, such as consumer markets, are highly unpredictable and unstable, since much of what we consume is defined more in terms of its exchange rather than use value. Like all institutionalized risk cultures, consumer culture too in Japan engages in the reflexive monitoring of risk.
Just as the Hollywood star system provided a guarantee, or promise, against loss on investment for the film industry, idols are an immunity against instability since they regulate and ensure regular consumption in post-industrial society. For the media industry, idols colonize the future by dispersing risk into a more manageable system for regulating consumer desire. This presentation will examine television advertising and the role of Japanese celebrities in charitable activities in the wake of 3.11. Through spectacles of mediated suffering, the Japanese mass media have sought to re-constitute audiences who have become cynical and disillusioned with its disposable, tabloid culture.
Just as the distinction between labor and leisure, paid and unpaid work, and production and consumption have disappeared, charity (jizen) and self-promotion (gizen) have also become indistinguishable in today’s capitalist society. This analysis will reveal how the Japanese media is clinging to power through the domestication of suffering, sacrifice, and spectacle in the period after 3.11. In the process of national recovery, anachronistic appeals to traditional values of perseverance and sacrifice, which echoed the rhetoric of wartime conservation, have confronted the reality of a post-industrial economy that increasingly thrives on affective consumer economics.

Bio Jason G. Karlin is an associate professor in
the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. He specializes in gender and media studies, and is the co-editor of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and author of the forthcoming Gender and Nation in Meiji Japan: Modernity, Loss, and the Doing of History (University of Hawaii Press, May 2014).

September 13, 2013

[SSJ: 8280] Book-Out Speech

From: Tomohito Shinoda
Date: 2013/09/13

On the occasion of publication of my new book, Contemporarary Japanse
Politics: Institutional Changes and Power Shift (Columbia Univ. Press), I will speak at the Johns Hopki Univ. SAIS on Sept.18, Southern Methodist Univ. on Sept. 23, and UC Berkeley on Sept.24.

[SSJ: 8279] Seeking PTL for Japanese Politics

The Department of Politics and International Studies at the International Christian University (ICU) invites applicants for the following position.

Position: Part-time Lecturer (PTL)

Duties: Teach the undergraduate course "Japanese Politics" in the winter term 2013/14

Term time: December 2013 to February 2014 (3 months), Christmas break: Dec. 21, 2013 to January 5th, 2014
Details: This is a three-unit course (3x70 min) which can be taught in one or two sessions. Overall teaching
time: 9-10 weeks. The day(s) of teaching can be arranged in consultation with the candidate.

Language of Instruction: English

Requirement: The candidate should have a PhD or should be close to finishing his/her PhD in a social science (preferably political science) with a strong research interest in Japanese politics. Prior teaching experience at the university level is desirable.

Deadline for applications: September 29, 2013.

Please send your CV and a short cover letter, expressing your interest in this position and prior teaching experience by email to Prof. Shin Chiba, Chair of the Department of Politics and International Studies (chibas[at]icu.ac.jp).

Please send all inquiries about this position to:
chibas[at]icu.ac.jp

************************************************
SSJ-FORUM website
Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo
http://forum.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
SSJ Forum Archive (all past postings are available)
http://ssj.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
*Please obtain the consent of the author before quoting any message.
************************************************

September 11, 2013

[SSJ: 8277] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, September 25: Shadow Education in Japan: The Juku-Phenomenon

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2013/09/11

We would like to invite you to our upcoming

DIJ Social Science Study Group held on

Wednesday, 25 September 2013, 18:30

Speaker: Steve Entrich, Potsdam University

Shadow Education in Japan: The Juku-Phenomenon The future career of a student is determined by the sum of investments in his or her educational pathway. This pathway is distinguished by a number of transitions to the next level of education. Following decision theory (Boudon 1974), social origin affects the decision-making processes for investments in education, especially at these transition points in educational attainment.

In Japan, the fierce competition in access to the next higher school type intensifies the impact educational decisions have on students’ future careers. In addition to selecting a certain school, families are forced to decide whether or not an investment in supplementary lessons is needed. Thus, students’ school life is often strongly affected by gakkōgaikyōiku – also referred to as “shadow education”. So far, socioeconomic background and parents’ educational aspirations in conjunction with the students’ academic standing were held responsible for the use of shadow education in Japan.
However, not much is known about students’ own influence on these educational decisions.

Using data of the 2011 Hyōgo High School Students survey, I find that high school students’ decision for shadow education in Japan is determined by (1) students’ socio-demographic background; (2) school’s rank; (3) teaching quality at school; (4) students’
engagement in other activities outside regular school lessons; and (5) students’ educational aspirations. In addition, data of my own Juku-survey carried out from January to March 2013 show that students’ motivation to participate in Juku-classes differs greatly, highlighting positive and negative aspects of the Juku-industry.

Steve R. Entrich is a research assistant at the Chair for Social Scientific Educational Research at the University of Potsdam, where he studied History and Educational Sciences. Following that, he studied Japanese Language at the Humboldt University of Berlin, before staying at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Dōshisha University as a “visiting graduate student”.
Currently, he researches shadow education in Japan as a scholarship fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.

Please let me also remind you of our DIJ Social Science Study Group held on September 18, 18:30:
Speaker: Roland Loechli (Munich)
The Absence of Armed Conflict in the East China Sea

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgruen, B. Holthus, C. Hommerich.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen[at]dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

September 10, 2013

[SSJ: 8276] VACANCY at University of Turku: Professor of East Asian Contemporary History and Politics

From: Kari Lehti
Date: 2013/09/10

For your information and for circulation on the SSJ
Forum:

The Department of Political Science and Contemporary History at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Turku, Finland, declares open for application the position of Professor of East Asian Contemporary History and Politics.

The Professor will be appointed for a fixed term of five years for the period 1 August 2014 - 31 July 2019.

The Professor is engaged in and directs academic research, gives teaching based on research, and keeps up to date on advances in the respective field. The Professor is also expected to interact with relevant parts of the society at large, and to take part in international cooperation. The Professor is the Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies.

The salary is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel. For professors the salary is at levels 8-10 on the job demands chart, where the task specific salary component is between 4598-5866 euros per month.
In addition, a personal work performance component will be paid. The personal work performance component is a maximum of 46.3 % of the task specific salary component.

For more detailed information on the application and evaluation procedure, please see the appointment
specification:
http://www.utu.fi/fi/Yliopisto/yliopisto-tyonantajana/a
voimet-tehtavat/Lists/Avoimet%20tehtvt/Attachments/200/
Appointment%20specification%20of%20East%20Asian%20profe
ssor.doc.

The deadline for applications to arrive at the Office of the University Registrar is no later than 3.10.2013 at 15:45. See also the job opening page at http://www.utu.fi/fi/Yliopisto/yliopisto-tyonantajana/a
voimet-tehtavat/Lists/Avoimet%20tehtvt/Item/displayifs.
aspx?&ID=200

Organizer: ITASIA Student Body Government
Date: Friday, November 22, 2012
Location: University of Tokyo (Hongo Campus), The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), 3F Main Conference Room Language of presentation and discussion: English

Call for participants:

The ITASIA Student Body Government (SBG) is pleased to announce its second graduate student conference, and is currently accepting applications for students and researchers interested in presenting their work. The presentations should be short, relevant to the topic of one of the four panels, and given in English. For those interested in participating, please email the organizer of the given panel. The deadline for applications is the evening of October 1st.

This panel will explore nationalism in film or television. How does media attempt to define or contest national identity? Further, how do certain mediums represent national identity in different ways? Some potential topics might discuss representations of military, the Olympics, minorities or gender on film or television. All regions and media are encouraged to submit.

What does “security” mean for geopolitical actors in the Asia Pacific region? The concept of security may be handled differently in the military, climate, and energy sectors, and issues of identity, nationalism, and history may both hinder and facilitate security cooperation. This panel will consider security in light of topics such as new social media and technology transfer, threats such as cyber and transnational crime networks and human trafficking, and traditional alliance networks or possible recalibrations of allegiances. The organizers of the conference particularly encourage contributions that stem from a theoretically innovative and empirically grounded perspective.

Panel 3: Gender and Identity in Japanese Popular and Media Culture
(日本の大衆メディア文化におけるジェンダーとアイデンティ
ティ)

While it is often said that the society we live in is ever changing and improving, but is it really becoming better in terms of gender-equality? Whether engaged or exploited, women are increasingly involved in this rapidly changing network society, which in turn shapes women’s lives and identities. This panel will explore how contemporary women’s gender, sexuality, and identity are represented, experienced, and challenged in popular and media culture in Japan by examining various gender-related topics from different academic perspectives.

This panel will consider the role of print media, such as books, magazines and newspapers, in social and political transformations, both historical and contemporary. Print media will be considered from an interdisciplinary perspective, considering the production, circulation, sales and popular reception.
Possible themes could include intellectual history, colonialism, post-colonialism and contemporary contexts. Papers that contextualize the influence of print media within a broader political and media climate are particularly welcome.

Conference Proceedings/学会の論文集
Since a discussant will provide comments on all panelists’ presentations, a 4,000-word copy of each presentation paper must be submitted in advance of the conference no later than November 1. Following the conference, the ITASIA SBG will organize a conference proceedings. Presenters will have the option to include their paper in the published conference proceedings.
Concrete details regarding submissions guidelines will be sent to successful applicants.

Please visit our website at
http://www.ipss.go.jp/seminar/index.html
for further details and registration.

Simultaneous translation (English<>Japanese), live broadcast through USTREAM and post-seminar YouTube archive will be available.

******************
International migration is one of the most important policy issues in the globalizing world today, since international migration is considered as a solution to labor shortages for developed countries, while it contributes to an increase in income through remittances for developing countries. The level of international migration is rising partly due to differences in population structure between developed and developing countries. In recent years, types of migration is also changing due to increased diversity in both migrant sending and receiving countries and to increased short-term migration as well as circular migration.

In 2003, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research held the 8th IPSS Annual Seminar entitledPopulation Decline and Immigration Policies:
Japan' s Choice, focusing on the issue of immigration to Japan. After a decade, the issues regarding international migration are changing. In parallel with the population decline and stabilizing internal mobility, the number of registered foreign residents in Japan has decreased after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
However, gradually but steadily, the number of permanent foreign residents in Japan is on the rise.

In this seminar we are going to discuss the following
points: 1) global trends in internal and international mobility, 2) trends in international migration in traditional immigration countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, trends in other developed countries such as Germany, France and Italy, and trends in newly industrialized countries and regions such as Korea, Taiwan and BRICS, 3) overview of the historical trends in international migration of Japan, 4) the significance of international migration for population declining communities in Japan, 5) current state of international migrants of highly skilled professionals, unskilled workers, trainees and students in Japan. The discussion aims to open a new prospect in Japanese international migration and policy challenges considering fundamental question of what is immigration policy.
Finally, we will see whether it is possible to construct a Japanese model regarding international migration.

To submit an abstract, please send an email with your name, affiliation, a title, and abstract of 300 words in English (1,000 letters in Japanese) to the organizers below. The deadline for abstracts is:
Sunday, September 15

Fees:
Registration 3,000 yen
Optional Reception 2,000 yen

*Please indicate in your email if you will “ATTEND”
or “NOT ATTEND” the reception.

Within everyday life and academic spheres, the effectiveness of borders is said to be receding.
Scholars argue that the hallmark of globalization’s current phase is cultural hybridity, an intensified awareness of “the world”, and more rapid forms of exchange between groups and individuals across the globe. Within the study of Japan, researchers readily borrow methods and share ideas in an attempt to keep up with emerging cultural phenomena. At the same time, qualitative research may still reify disciplinary distinctions by emphasizing certain kinds of knowledge.
Although boundaries and borders may be in flux, people, places, and practices remain critical components to understanding the issues that interest us.

The following conference seeks to bring together a wide range of papers that explore - empirically and/or theoretically - these tendencies and trends within the study of Japan. In what ways does the study of
culture(s) in Japan today contribute to the blurring or remaking of disciplinary boundaries? What kinds of approaches are being undertaken to situate the study of Japan in broader, more global contexts? Is the study of Japan the vanguard or stagnant backwater of ethnographic inquiry into contemporary life?

AJJ welcomes scholars from a range of disciplines and backgrounds to present papers that explore these topics through theoretical and fieldwork-driven research.
Papers may be given in English or Japanese in hopes of encouraging a robust discussion about new directions in anthropology and Japan studies. Papers and panels that combine several disciplinary perspectives and transverse Japan's geographic borders are especially encouraged.

[SSJ: 8272] Next DIJ Social Science Study Group, September 18: The Absence of Armed Conflict in the East China Sea

From: Phoebe Holdgruen
Date: 2013/09/05

We would like to invite you to our upcoming

DIJ Social Science Study Group held on

Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 18:30

Speaker: Roland Löchli, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

The Absence of Armed Conflict in the East China Sea

Since the 1970s, the situation in the East China Sea has been marked by recurring crises between Japan and the People`s Republic of China in regard to the sovereignty issue over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and discord over the delimitation of maritime boundaries.
On top of territorial disputes and geographic contiguity, the robust US-Japan security alliance that is seen by many as containing Beijing, historic rivalry dating back to the Chinese-Japanese war of 1894/95, and an arms race in the making between the two East Asian giants add up to all elements that John Vasquez includes in his famous `steps-to-war` formula.
Therefore, it amounts to an empirical puzzle why the East China Sea has been a sphere of relative stability where both parties refrained from the threat and use of force to solve their conflicts of interest for several decades.

In this presentation, I will analyze empirical evidence on the Sino-Japanese interaction in the East China Sea, drawn from the academic literature on Sino-Japanese relations as well as foreign and defense ministry documents from both countries. I endeavor to account for the absence of armed conflict through testing the empirical evidence against the predictions of two major International Relations theories, structural constructivism and defensive realism.
While I find that structural constructivist explanations that focus on mutually perceived identities fail to capture the ongoing dynamics comprehensively, I will argue that defensive realist logic with its emphasis on material capabilities and information variables accounts reasonably well for the absence of armed conflict in the East China Sea to the present day.

Roland Löchli graduated from the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich with an M. A. in Japanese Studies, Chinese Studies and Political Science.
Currently, he is enrolled as a PhD student at LMU and carries out research for his PhD thesis on Sino-Japanese security relations as a scholarship fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies.

The DIJ Social Science Study Group is organized by P.
Holdgrün, B. Holthus, C. Hommerich.
All are welcome to attend, but registration
(holdgruen[at]dijtokyo.org) is appreciated.

Job Announcement: 9 Doc/Post-doc positions (IZO, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main) Beginning in January 2014, the Interdisciplinary Centre of East Asian Studies (IZO) at Goethe University Frankfurt/Main will launch a new research project “Protecting the weak” with support from the Volkswagen Foundation´s initiative “Key Issues for Academia and Society”. The project investigates how new public claims for the protection of weak groups and interests in contemporary Japan and China are gaining social acceptance against the historical backdrop of East